Miraculous Kat
by LionPr1de
Summary: Kat lead a perfectly normal life. That is, until she fell into the Miraculous world. Pairing between my character and Nathaniel. Also: this takes place after season 2 episode one, so Hawkmoth is revealed.
1. Part One

Part One: Kats Don't Always Land on Their Feet

The smell of popcorn drifted into Kat's room, sinking into her dreams. Or, at least, that was what she thought was happening. Soon after she smelled the popcorn, it felt like she was falling. The drop was short, and the floor stopped her fall. The pain that flared up was ample proof that she wasn't dreaming. She groaned as people screamed. A handful of popcorn hit her face.

"What..."

"Looks like she's /floored/ to be here."

"Dude, what's with the pun?"

"Ugh, what is she wearing?" Someone scoffed. Kat looked up at that.

"I could ask you the same thing," she wheezed. The girl had on a bright yellow jacket that clashed horrendously with her eyes. And...was that blue eyeshadow? Everything about the girl seemed annoying.

"I happen to have impeccable fashion sense," she sniffed.

"Leave her alone, Chloé," a boy said. Kat tried to prop herself up on her elbow, and immediately wished she hadn't. The muscles on the right side of her spine throbbed painfully. Kat groaned again and laid back on the floor. Obviously, that was what bore the brunt of the force when she landed.

"Are you all right?" The boy asked.

"I don't know," she whimpered. Her whole body ached.

"Can you sit up?"

This time she braced herself for the pain, and sat up slowly. The muscles in her back still hurt horribly, but, otherwise, she was fine. The blond boy that was squatting down next to her stood up slightly and offered his hand. Kat took it, not thinking, then hissed because she had used her right arm, thus pulling her hurt back muscles.

"Oh, here," the boy said, switching sides so he was on her left. He put an arm under hers and helped her stand.

"Thanks," she said sheepishly, blushing at the boy. He was kinda cute, and somehow familiar. Then it hit her. She was in Miraculous: The Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir, which she fondly called Miraculous Ladybug, because it was shorter.

"I'm Adrien, what's your name?"

"Kat...it's Kat," she replied, the fact that she was in the show still not quite sinking in.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Adrien smiled as he let go of her.

"But where did you come from?" Marinette asked. She came closer to Kat, eyeing her skeptically.

"I'm not entirely sure what happened," Kat grimaced. She knew she had fallen asleep. /Maybe I'm dreaming,she thought, although her back still hurt too badly for it to be a dream. Marinette narrowed her eyes.

"Are you sure you don't know?"

"Yeah. Er, well, I was asleep in my bed, at home, and then I was falling. I really...I really don't know what happened."

"Where do you live?" Adrien asked.

"Probably in Trashville," Chloé sniggered. Adrien shot a look at her, then turned back to Kat.

"I live in Utah."

"Where's that?" Adrien's curiosity was adorable.

"It's in the good ol' US of A, of course," Kat laughed. She turned to Chloé. "And, FYI, I happen to be in extremely comfy clothes, and I don't care if they're glamorous or not. Oh, and could you be a dear and get rid of that jacket? It's giving me a headache."


	2. Part 1-point-5: A Physical Description

Part 1.5: A Short Physical Description of Kat

Hair: Sandy Blonde

Eyes: Hazel

Height: 5'7"

Age: 16, but, spoiler alert, she's gonna lie about it so she can stay in the same grade as Adrien and Marinette

Skin tone: light rose beige

Clothes she came in: light blue cotton shirt with lace on the edges, fuzzy blue and purple leopard print pajama pants (think Sully's fur on Monsters Inc)

Hope this is helpful for your imagining. I couldn't figure out how to fit all of this in the story, so...


	3. Part Two: Home Sweet Home?

Part Two: Home sweet home?

"What in the world is going on here?!" Sixteen heads turn to look at Miss Bustier, Who was standing in the doorway.

"I'll tell you what's happening!" Chloé whined. "This girl interrupted the movie!"

"She fell out of a portal thing in the ceiling, Chloé," Marinette glared.

"She still interrupted the movie that /you/ left for us."

"I go to a meeting for five minutes," Miss Bustier muttered. She sighed. "All right, come with me, Miss...?"

"My name's Katherine, but I go by Kat."

"What's your last name?"

"Mirkwood," Kat replied.

"Well, Miss Mirkwood, come with me. We'll call your parents and figure out what to do with you in the mean time."

—In the office with Principal Damocles—

"What was the number again?"

Kat repeated her phone number. Damocles tapped the numbers in and waited. Kat waited, too, barely able to breathe. The phone rang a couple times, then someone answered.

"Yes, hello," Damocles said, "this is Principal Damocles principal of Collège Françoise Dupont. Is this the Mirkwood residence?"

He paused. Kat hopes against hope that it was her family. Damocles nodded a few times. He sighed.

"Well, I'm sorry to bother you...yes, we'll cover the bill for this call...yes, goodbye."

"Did...did they answer?" Kat asked, a breath from crying. The principal exchanged a look with Miss Bustier, who had been listening to both sides of the call.

"The people who answered...they didn't know any Mirkwoods. Are you sure that was the right number?"

Kat nodded. Tears filled her eyes, and her throat tightened. Damocles murmured something to Miss Bustier, but Kat payed no attention. She barely registered the slight pressure around her shoulders as Miss Bustier guided her back to class.

"Kat, did you hear what I just said?"

"What?" Kat's voice wavered.

"We're going to see if one of my students will let you stay with them for a while, okay?"

"'Kay." Kat took a deep, shuddering breath and steadied herself. I can do this, she thought, it's just an adventure. No need to worry. With that in mind, she fixed her messy, sandy-blonde hair and reentered Miss Bustier's classroom.

"Why don't you sit back by Nathaniel?" Kat did. She gave Nathaniel a small smile. He nodded and went back to doodling Ladybug and Chat Noir. Kat tried to focus on the movie, but fell asleep. When she woke again, she felt refreshed and the movie was nearly over. She yawned and stretched, making a jacket fall from her shoulders. That peaked her curiosity. It most definitely didn't belong to her. Kat glanced at Nathaniel, who was munching on popcorn, jacket-less. This is a first, Kat thought. She held out the jacket and tapped Nathaniel's shoulder.

"Thanks," she whispered, smiling a little. He took it and smiled back at her.

"No problem," he whispered. He held out his bag of popcorn. "Popcorn?"

Kat took a few pieces. Already, she was becoming accustomed to the idea that she was stuck here.

"I'm Nathaniel."

"Nice to meet you. I suppose you already know my name." Nathaniel nodded and they both directed their attention back to the movie. Well, Kat did. Nathaniel went back to drawing.

Five minutes later, the credits rolled. Everyone sighed and stretched. Miss Bustier cleared her throat to get everyone's attention while she turned the projector off. Kat knew what was coming. She fiddled with the lace on her light blue pajama shirt.

"All right, class, before we go on with today's lesson, we need to find Miss Mirkwood somewhere to stay. Does anyone have room for her?"

"I do," Adrien said, "I'll call Father."

"Anyone else?"

"I might have room..." Marinette said after heaving a huge sigh. She knew that she'd want to be treated well if she were in the same situation. She sighed again and took out her phone to call her parents.

"What about you, Miss Bourgeois?" Miss Bustier raised an eyebrow.

"No. Way. No!" Chloé said prissily. She realized how that sounded and revised her thought. "I mean...everything is full. No rooms, nothing."

"Yeah, right," Kat muttered to Nathaniel. He smirked. There was a giggle from Rose across the aisle. Kat must have been louder than she thought.

"Anyone else?"

Kat poked Nathaniel in the side.

"What about you?" She smiled, so he would know she wasn't necessarily serious.

"We don't have any extra rooms, sorry." He looked genuinely sorry, like he would have enjoyed having her stay with him.

"Father said it was okay," Adrien piped up after ending the call. "Or, rather, Nathalie said that my father said it was okay. It's the same thing, really. The only thing is, Father has photo shoots booked all weekend."

"Love you, too, Papa," Marinette ended. "We can't take her until the weekend. Papa has a renowned food critic coming."

"Well, it looks like we have that all sorted then," Miss Bustier smiled. "Miss Mirkwood, you can stay with Adrien during the week, and with Marinette on the weekend."

"Thanks, guys," Kat said.

Adrien smiled and waved. Marinette pouted a little. Miss Bustier went on with the lesson.

"Today, we'll be learning about the Greek gods." A shiver of excitement ran down Kat's spine. She knew a lot about that topic, thanks to a certain book series. I'm gonna have some fun, she thought with a smile.

————After School————

"This way, Kat." Adrien pointed to the limo that just pulled up. He opened the door and gestured for her to get in. She gasped upon entering, not because it was fancy, but because Gabriel Agreste was already in the car. Adrien started to get in, then blinked in surprise.

"Father?"

"Hello, Adrien." He turned his attention to Kat. "Who is this?"


	4. Part 3: Kats and Clothes

**Part Three: Kats and Clothes**

 **Note: The first part of this is essential to the story, but once they get to the department store, it's fine if you want to move on, although, I did enjoy writing that part.**

"I'm Kat Mirkwood, sir." Kat shifted nervously. I hope he doesn't ask many questions, she thought, knowing that she had a tendency to ramble when nervous.

"What are you doing here, Father? You don't usually pick me up." Kat could hear a smile behind Adrien's words.

"I thought I should meet the young lady that will be staying with us." Adrien slouched, just a little, barely enough to be noticeable. His father ignored the minuscule action. "So, how exactly did you come to need a place to stay?"

"Uh...I fell out of a portal thing apparently. Oh, and thank you for letting me stay with you and Adrien during the week, sir," Kat added.

"You're welcome. Now, tell me a little about yourself."

"Well, sir," Kat began, "I'm six—fifteen, I play tennis, I like to read...what else would you like to know?"

"Where are you from?"

"Utah. The US of A."

"What would you like to be when you're older?"

"Um, maybe like a CSI. Or maybe I'll be an editor or a publisher."

"Do you have any history of criminal activity?"

"Father!"

"It's a valid question."

"It's fine," Kat laughed. "The most criminal like thing that I've done is probably...oh, I know! I once forgot to return a book to my fifth grade teacher. Oh, and I accidentally walked out of a hotel with the key. I don't feel too bad about that, though, because I'm pretty sure they reprogram the locks."

"I suppose that's enough questions." Mr. Agreste made a mental note to avoid speaking with Kat. Then he saw Kat's clothes. "Do you have any other clothes?"

"No, sir. As I told you, I fell through some sort of portal. I didn't exactly have time to pack a bag," Kat scowled. Mr. Agreste addressed Nathalie, who was driving.

"Nathalie?"

"Yes, Mr. Agreste?"

"Let's stop at the nearest department store. Miss Kat needs new clothes."

—At a Department Store—

"Wow, look at that!" Kat fingered an extremely sequin covered shirt. She was still nervous being around Mr. Agreste, but the nervousness died down as long as Adrien or Nathalie was there, too.

"Glittery," Adrien commented. "Are you liking any of these?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"You guess so?" Adrien raised an eyebrow.

"I like glittery stuff, I just don't like wearing it. It's so itchy, and blinding." Kat's eyes landed on a pretty light pink shirt. "Ooh, maybe that one." She held it up, only to discover that the sides were closer to a poncho than a shirt, and it was see-through. She sighed and put it back. Mr. Agreste, who had been watching from a distance, approached them, Nathalie close behind.

"What was wrong with that one?"

"Look at the sides! And it's see through. Why on earth would I wear it? I mean, seriously!"

"What about this one?" Adrien held up a red shirt. The back laced up, and the front was pretty.

"Oh, that could work," Kat said. "I'll need a tank top, though."

"Why?"

"There's a thing called a bra. You'd be able to see like the entire back of said bra. Not to mention, I'd like to cover more skin than that. If it were a swimsuit top, it'd be fine."

"None of these are going to please you, are they?" Mr. Agreste chuckled.

"Probably not, but I'm not giving up hope yet."

"Here, try this!" Adrien thrust a relatively normal shirt into Kat's arms. She found the dressing rooms and tried it on. When she came out, Adrien had to stifle a giggle. It was extremely tight around the middle and loose on top.

"Are fashion designers aware that no one is actually shaped like freaking Barbie?"

"I'm a fashion designer, and I'm aware of it." Mr. Agreste's tone was a little harsh.

"Good for you," Kat wheezed. "I'm gonna go change."

It took much longer to get out of the shirt than it did to get in. Thankfully, Kat was skinny. If she hadn't have been, she would have been stuck for sure. When she finally left the dressing room, Adrien and his father were waiting with a couple armfuls of plain t-shirts.

"Here, they had these on a clearance rack," Adrien smiled.

"Thanks. You know what? I don't think I'll even have to try these on. They're all like a small in women's right?"

"Yep."

"Alrighty, then. On to pants."

"Right this way." Mr. Agreste gestured to his right.

"Aw, nah, we are not getting pants in the girls section."

"But you are a girl," Adrien pointed out.

"Two things: fake pockets, and probably nothing past size 5. Lead the way to the boys' section, mama wants skinny jeans."

"Are fake pockets really a problem?" Mr. Agreste asked. His tone implied that he didn't believe her.

"They're a problem if you need pockets, which I do."

"This way, then," Mr. Agreste sighed. He turned to Nathalie. "Nathalie, make a note to create a line of women's wear with real pockets."

"And past size 5, sir," Kat added, "I may be able to make size 5 work, but most girls can't."

"Noted," Nathalie said while scribbling in down on her tablet. They then began walking towards the boy's section.

"Hey, Kat?" Adrien asked. "Where did you learn French?"

"I didn't."

"You speak it really well."

"I can speak French?"


	5. Part 4

**Part Four: Kat and Her Kitten**

 ** _Note: The villain in this part is my own creation, not part of the actual series. This happens before Despair Bear and after The Collector._**

After an hour and a half long shopping trip, Kat finally gets to see the mansion in person. They exit the limo

"Welcome to our home. I have meetings from 6:30 to 10:30, so I'll be back late. Nathalie will be with me. I believe Adrien's bodyguard will take care of dinner. I expect you both in bed by 10:00."

"Yes, sir," Adrien and Kat said at the same time.

"See that you do." And with that, Mr. Agreste turned on his heel and left.

"Well that was subtle," Kat deadpanned. Adrien grimaced and smiled apologetically.

"He doesn't get much better."

"So, can I, like, be your big sister, then?"

"What?" Adrien furrowed his brows, not entirely sure what Kat was thinking.

"Can I be your pretend big sister? You ought to have at least one family member like you."

"Father likes me," Adrien said. He looked like a scolded dog.

"Uh, sorry. I didn't mean to...uh...I'm sure he does. I mean, you should have someone to dote on you, and I am more than willing to be that person."

"Thanks," Adrien said timidly, "I think I'd like that, too. So, what do you want to do...big sis?"

"I...ok, that sounded kinda weird, but I think I like it."

"I agree. So, what do you want to do? We've got video games, movies, board games."

"Do you have MarioKart?"

"Yes."

"Let's do this thing," Kat grinned.

—Two Intense™ Hours Later—

"Let's take a break," Kat panted after racing on Rainbow Road for the third time.

"Whatever you want." Adrien began to channel surf.

"But Antonio—"

"Now, put in a cup of milk—"

"I'm Nadja Chamak. Fear grips the hearts of many Parisians today—" Adrien apprehensively leaned forward "—as the akumatized villain, Blackheart, terrorizes innocent bystanders."

"Uh, I'll be right back." Adrien said, starting toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Kat asked, pretending to not know his secret identity.

"I'm going to...get some food."

"Mhm. Bring me back some."

"You got it," Adrien nodded, shooting finger guns. He disappeared through his bedroom door, and Kat followed. Adrien ran around the corner of the hallway and stopped.

"Plagg, claws out!" Kat watched in awe. This is so much cooler in person, Kat thought, staring wide-eyed at Chat Noir.

"That. Is. So. Cool." Kat's eyes were wide in awe. Chat Noir whipped around, his mouth dropping open.

"Uh. Uh. Oh, no." A hint of panic creeped into his voice.

"Don't freak out! I won't tell anyone, I promise!"

"Mmm, uuh, oh, I'll deal with this purr-oblem when I get back," Chat sighed. And with that, he hopped out the window.

—On The Rooftops of Paris, Overlooking a Parking Lot—

"Hello, m'ladybug," Chat grinned. Ladybug rolled her eyes.

"Hi, kitty. I suppose you know what's going on?"

"Kind of."

"Blackheart is a poet named Lexi Jameson. She was in a meeting and got rejected."

"How do you know that, bugaboo?"

"I happened to be in the neighborhood."

"Well, shall we be as a shadow in the night, and disappear, or shall we rise to the challenge similar that of the scorching sun on a summer day?"

"Really?"

"Ladybug and Chat Noir! How kind of you to drop in," Blackheart shrieked as she scribbled in her notebook with a raven feather quill. She hovered there for a moment until Chat spoke.

"That wasn't very poetic." Chat turned to Ladybug. "Shall we face her with all our might, or shall we dwindle 'neath our foe's sight?"

"I think you know the answer to that," Ladybug smirked. But, before they could do anything, Blackheart began to chant.

"Burn, burn, fields all die from the gaze of my eye!" A tornado of fire surrounded Blackheart. Chat and Ladybug just barely made it to cover before the fire blasted over their heads. There was a giggle of delight. "Oh, that worked wonderfully!"

"I think the Akuma is in her book!" Ladybug exclaimed.

"Then let's get it," Chat nodded. He vaulted out from hiding, extending his staff as he ran. The swinging staff clipped the edge of Blackheart's notebook. Ladybug darted out and scooped it up before Blackheart had a chance to react. She tore the notebook in half, but no akuma appeared. Blackheart cackled.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" She began to write in the air with her quill. Glowing yellow words hovered in the air, mesmerizing in the remaining heat haze.

"Catastrophe strikes, heroes fall, while I will stand...TALL!" Blackheart bellowed and she began to grow in size.

"Hurry!" Chat exclaimed. "We need to get that pen!"

"Lucky Charm! A giant hairbrush? What am I supposed to do with this?"

"You'll never stop me!"

An idea formed in Ladybug's head. She quickly glanced around and found the perfect position.

"Chat, distract her!"

"On it. Hey, dark lady!"

"I. Am. Blackheart!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I have a haiku for you," Chat taunted. "Blackheart, oh, Blackheart, please give up now, without a big fight."

"That's not a haiku!"

"Hang on a second, I think I feel a sneeze coming." Chat exaggerated his movements. "Ah...ah...HAIKU!"

Blackheart screamed in frustration. She moved to attack, but Ladybug was faster. Ladybug swung the brush down, and it caught in Blackheart's tangled hair. Blackheart howled in pain, dropping her quill. Ladybug snatched up the quill and de-evilized the akuma and put everything back to normal.

"Pound it!"

Then Chat shifted nervously, thinking for a moment.

"Hey, Ladybug?" He asked.

"Yes, kitty?"

"Hypothetically, what do you think would happen if someone found out our identities?"

"I...don't know. Which is why we can never reveal ourselves."

"I know, but...what if someone just happened to walk in while you were transforming?"

"Chat, that's not going to happen."

"Whatever you say, my lady."


	6. Part 5

**Part 5: Kat and a Cat**

"Oh, yay, you're back," Kat smiled warmly. Adrien just nodded, exhausted from the akuma attack. "I've been having one-sided conversations and yelling a lot while playing Mario Kart. I didn't want your bodyguard getting suspicious."

"That's great," Adrien sighed, "but we need to talk."

"What about?"

"Look, you absolutely cannot tell anyone that you know who I am."

"Why would I?"

"I don't know, just swear that you won't."

"I solemnly swear that I will tell no one."

"Ok. Good." Adrien breathed a sigh of relief. Then a thought occurred to him. "Since you know who I am now, could you give me some advice?"

"I suppose. I don't know if it'll be good advice, but I can try."

"How do I get a Ladybug to like me?" Kat stifled a squeal of excitement.

"Okay, I actually might be able to help. First, I suppose a great outfit is what you need. I think."

"She only sees me as Chat Noir."

"Oh, right. Well, the wardrobe is not a problem. How she doesn't at least kinda drool over you is a mystery to me." Kat paused. She knew why. "But maybe that's not the problem. Maybe she just likes someone else."

"Who, though? And what do they have that I don't?"

"Uh…" Kat had no idea what to say to that. She changed the subject. "Why don't we play a board game or something, and I'll try to figure it all out. But please don't be too disappointed if I can't, though."

"All right." Adrien smiled a little. "I guess you can't have all the answers."

"Ah, but I can have most of them." Kat paused, staring at the small cat eating cheese behind Adrien's shoulder. "Ohmygosh he is so adorable!"

"Thanks," Plagg grinned sleepily.

"Can I hold him?"

——The Next Day at School——

"Today, class, we'll be continuing our study of Greek gods and goddesses. Who thinks they can name a few?" Adrien's hand shot up in the air a fraction of a second after Kat's. Plagg peaked out of Adrien's bag.

"Kat, Adrien, why don't you come up and write what you can come up with, then scribe for the rest of the class?"

Kat excitedly jogged to the front of the class. Soon enough, there was a long list of Greek gods and goddesses. Adrien's list had seven of the twelve main Olympians, but Kat's list had the remaining five plus at least six other not-so-well-known ones. Adrien knew a lot of the Olympians, but didn't recognize some of the names Kat was writing.

"Who's Hestia?"

"Goddess of the hearth," Kat replied without looking up from where she was writing 'Nike'.

"Wait a second, I thought Nike was a brand."

"Goddess of victory. Her name literally translates to victory."

"Oh." Adrien turned back to the board, trying to come up with a name that Kat hadn't already written. Miss Bustier squinted at one of the names.

"Who's Thanatos?" She asked.

"Thanatos is the god of death—"

"Actually Hades is," Miss Bustier interrupted.

"No, Thanatos is, but he's usually mixed up with Hades. Hades is the god of the underworld, not death."

Miss Bustier decided to give in. Apparently, Kat was smarter than the teacher's manual.

"All right, you can take your seats. I doubt anyone can come up with any others."

The rest of her lesson seemed to drag by. Finally, finally, after an entire day of being interrupted and corrected by Kat and Adrien, the bell rang for the students to leave.

Seeing as it was Friday now, Kat gave Adrien a quick hug and failed to notice Plagg sneaking into her jacket pocket.

"Oh, hey, I have something for you, Kat."

"What is it?"

"Here." Adrien held out a brand new phone. "I convinced Nathalie to pick it up this morning."

"Thank you so much!" She looked into Adrien's eyes. "You are the best baby bro ever."

And with that, she hurried over to where Marinette was waiting impatiently.

"Hey, Marinette, thanks again for letting me stay with you."

"No problem," Marinette muttered. She began to walk briskly towards her house, Kat close behind.

"Marinette?"

"What?" Marinette snapped.

"Why are you so mad at me?"

"What? I'm not mad!" Marinette laughed. "I'm just...tired! Yeah, I'm tired."

"Sure you are." Kat rolled her eyes. "I think I know what this is about."

"There's no 'this', Kat."

"Yes, there is. I know you like Adrien."

"Uh…"

"Yeah. I know. Look, he's like a brother to me. I'm not gonna steal him or anything."

"Oh. Thanks?"

"No problem." A small noise came from Kat's pocket. It sounded like...giggling? As sneakily as she could, she glanced in her pocket. Her eyes widened in alarm.

——At Marinette's Family's Bakery——

"Hi, Papa."

"Hi, Marinette. Oh, is this the young lady that'll be staying with us?"

"Hello," Kat smiled, anxious to be alone so she could call Adrien.

"Marinette said your name is Kat?"

"Yes, sir." Kat eyed the cinnamon rolls (sweet rolls) then shook her head. Time for cinnamon rolls later. But Tom had seen the look.

"You want one?" He asked, gesturing to the sweets. Kat hurriedly said yes and followed Marinette upstairs, cinnamon roll in hand.

"You'll have to sleep on the floor," Marinette said apologetically.

"That's fine," Kat replied, shifting from side to side. Marinette turned around to turn on her computer to the news while Kat sat down awkwardly on Marinette's bed. A news banner flashed across the screen. Marinette's eyes widened.

"I'll be right back," she said, darting up to the roof. Kat breathed a sigh of relief. Marinette left, leaving Kat alone with Plagg. She took out her phone and found Adrien in her contacts. The phone rang once and Adrien picked up.

"Hey, Kat," Adrien said, worry evident in his voice. "Before you say anything, have you seen Plagg?"

"That's why I'm calling." Kat scowled at the small cat eating the rest of her beloved cinnamon roll. She'd try to get it back, but Plagg just looked so happy. "Can you come get him?"

"Can you meet me? I need to transform," Adrien added in a whisper.

"Dude, does it not work over long distances?"

"I have no idea."

There was a faint, "plagg, claws out," on the other end of the line and Plagg shot out the window.

"Plagg's on his way, hon."


	7. Part 6: Kats Have Claws

**Part 6: Kats Have Claws**

It was after two in the morning when Marinette tiredly clambered down into her room and collapsed on her bed, exhausted. Kat sat up in a flash when she heard Marinette. Then she calmed down, relieved that it wasn't a burglar or something worse.

"Do you have any idea what time it is, Marinette?" Kat whispered.

"Really late?"

"It's…" Kat checked her phone "...2:34. As in 2:34 A.M."

"I lost track of time," Marinette said, yawning.

"Mhm. You went up to the roof, and just stayed outside until two in the morning."

"Yeah, more or less."

"Marinette, I know you're Ladybug. Don't try to hide it."

Marinette's eyes shot open.

"I'm-I'm not Ladybug. I just...fell asleep...yeah, I fell asleep."

"I saw you," Kat half lied. She hadn't seen her transform in person yet, but she'd seen it plenty of times on TV.

"Oh, no," Marinette groaned.

"Oh, yes. Look, I promise I won't tell anybody, okay?"

"This can't be happening." Marinette started to hyperventilate.

"Marinette, I'm not gonna tell anyone!"

"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad."

"Marinette, are you listening to me?"

"You cannot tell anyone!"

"If you'd been listening to me," Kat said calmly, "you would have already heard me say that I won't tell anyone."

Marinette sighed, whether out of exhaustion or relief, Kat couldn't tell. Marinette collapsed onto her bed. Kat decided to leave her alone and go back to sleep herself.

——The Next Monday——

After an entire weekend of Marinette being worried and jumpy, Kat was glad to be back at school, even though she was late. She smiled at Adrien as she made her way to the back by Nathaniel. Marinette was yawning as she sat down.

"Why are you late today?" Alya asked Marinette.

"I slept in," she whispered back tiredly.

Meanwhile in the front row, Nino was interrogating Adrien.

"Dude, what's with you and Kat? Why are you so close all of the sudden?"

"Why are you asking me?" Adrien laughed, rolling his eyes.

"You're smiling at each other all the time, you hug, you're practically dating."

Adrien made a face. "We're not dating. I don't even like her like that. And, if you must know, she's now my pretend sister. Her words were, and I quote, 'you should have someone to dote on you.' And you know what? I think I like having a sister."

Nino laughed.

"She's your...pretend sister? Haha!"

Kat happened to have great hearing and heard what Nino had said.

"You got a problem with that, Nino?" She called to the front menacingly. Nino heard the edge in her voice and instantly stopped.

"No, ma'am," he replied. In the front of the room, Miss Bustier face-palmed and wondered if her class would ever be normal. She decided that it wouldn't, and then she decided to get on with the school day.

"Everyone please find a partner." Mostly, people paired up with who they were sitting by. This meant that Kat and Nathaniel decided to pair up together. Neither complained.

The only difference in the usual groups were Marinette and Adrien's. Nino and Alya had both decided to set their friends up together, and as a consequence, Marinette and Adrien were put together. Chloe fumed and tried forcing her way into the group.

"Move it, Trash-girl, Adrien's my partner."

"Uh, Chloe—" Chloé cut Adrien off.

"This'll be fun, won't it Adrikins?"

Adrien looked uncomfortable, and so, naturally, Kat stepped in.

"Chloe," she smiled (fake) sweetly, "could I talk to you for a moment?"

"Ugh, n—" she was going to say "no way" but Kat pulled her back near Sabrina.

"Listen up, you little pig," Kat whispered savagely, the fake smile still contorting her features. If she was anyone else, it would have looked like a grimace. "I can see how uncomfortable you make Adrien, and how overbearing you are. If you ever make him feel uncomfortable or smothered again, I will personally make your life a living nightmare."

Chloe's eyes were as round as dinner plates and she shivered involuntarily. Whoever Kat was, she was scary. Kat smiled as sweetly as she could.

"Never cross a Hufflepuff, Chloe, it won't end well."

"What was that about, I wonder," Alya muttered to Nino.

"Do you all have your partners?" Miss Bustier asked. Everyone nodded. "All right, then. I will now pair up your pairs myself."

Fifteen pairs of eyes widened in alarm. Everyone (except Kim) hoped and prayed that Chloe and Sabrina wouldn't be paired with them. Miss Bustier began directing the groups.

"Alya and Nino, you'll be with...Alix and Mylène. Ivan, since there are an odd number of people, why don't you go with them, too? Chloe, Sabrina, you'll go with..." The students held their breath. "...Rose and Juleka."

Rose and Juleka groaned and moved to sit by them. Chloe was still too shocked by what Kat said to do anything but stare straight ahead, wide-eyed.

"Marinette, Adrien, you'll be with Kat and Nathaniel. Max, Kim, you'll just be a pair." Once everyone was situated, Miss Bustier continued. "You're assignment is to find a need around school and make it better."

"That sounds like something for my butler to do," Chloe whined, partly recovered from her shock. Miss Bustier sighed.

"It doesn't have to be cleaning, Miss Bourgeois." She turned and addressed everyone. "This project can be anything as long as it benefits someone or something. Find a need, and fix it."

Kat smirked a little. She knew exactly what they should do. Miss Bustier set them to it and meandered around the room.

"So, what do we want to do?" Adrien asked.

"We-we could sew sweaters for students who need them," Marinette suggested.

"We could hold an art expo to raise money," Nathaniel said, clutching his sketchbook to his chest. Kat liked those ideas, but she liked hers even more.

"Guys, what about a chat-line for people who are, like, sad?"

"What?" Three voices asked. Kat elaborated.

"When you're sad, sometimes it helps to talk to someone. Akumatized victims are usually just sad or mad or whatever. I also looked it up, and most of the victims were high school students. I figure that if we can set it up, maybe we can prevent villains."

"That's...actually a great idea," Nathaniel said. He smiled. "I love it."

"Thanks," Kat blushed.

"I like it, too," Adrien said. Marinette agreed, though a little apprehensively.

"Well, let's get started, then," Kat grinned.


	8. Part 7: Cutie and the Kat

**Part 7: Cutie and the Kat**

"All right class, it's time to share what your projects are."

Two days had passed since the initial planning of the projects. During that time, Kat, Nathaniel, Marinette, and Adrien had acquired four extra phones (courtesy of one slightly reluctant Gabriel Agreste), made a website with the phone's information, and made some flyers.

Miss Bustier called each of the groups up and they explained what their projects were.

"Ours is about expressing yourself," Rose explained. She would have gone on, but Chloe interrupted.

"No, that's a side note. We have designed a not-absolutely-hideous-clothing-line for students who need better, less disgusting clothes. It was my brilliant idea," she finished haughtily.

"O-kay. Next let's have Max and Kim."

The groups steadily progressed as class went on. Kat's group was very last.

"Our idea was to create a 'chat' for people who are feeling bad." Adrien turned to Kat. "It was actually Kat's idea."

"Oh, don't give me all the credit. It was Nathaniel's idea to make a website, and Marinette's idea to make it text compatible. And you were the one that got the supplies that we needed. I really didn't do much."

Marinette said nothing, but Adrien and Nathaniel both objected.

"You showed us how to do make it work." Nathaniel's elbow brushed hers.

"You were also endlessly patient with all of us," Adrien added. Kat rolled her eyes as she realized that this was an argument she wasn't going to win.

"All right, all right, that's enough. Shall we get on with la presentacíon?"

"We shall." Adrien went to talk, but thought better of it. "Kat, why don't you explain? You'll do better than I will."

"All right," Kat sighed with exaggerated reluctance, then excitedly launched into the explanation. "We have dubbed our project 'The Chat'. So original, right? The Chat is a chat, obviously. If anyone ever feels sad, or mad, or just plain bad, they can call or text in to talk with someone. We even have it set up so if one of us can't talk at the moment, it will redirect the call or text to someone else. For example, let's say Nathaniel has to go do chores. He can redirect the call to me and I can continue to take it. We also have a website. On there, you can find all sorts of stress relieving tricks and stuff."

"That's a wonderful idea," Mrs. Bustier cooed.

"We also have flyers that we've put up around school, so anyone can call in. Nathaniel, if you will." Kat gestured to the stack of papers Nathaniel had in his hands. He began to pass them out. "There's only one number, and it goes to my phone. From there, I can direct people to the person best suited for their needs. Or the person that is currently free to talk. Oh, and Miss Bustier?"

"Yes?"

"I've spoken with Principal Damocles, and he said it was fine for us four to text in class, but only if it's for The Chat."

"Well, I suppose that's all right. You and Adrien seem to be smarter than our teacher's manual, and despite being late all the time, Marinette is a good student. I'm okay with Nathaniel doing this, too, as long as you keep him on track in class. That means no doodling, Nathaniel."

Nathaniel looked crestfallen. Doodling was his one way of getting through the school day. Kat put a hand on his shoulder and smiled.

"Don't worry about it too much, Nathaniel. I have a hard time not doodling, too. We'll just have to help each other get through the day," she giggled. Her smile was infectious, and Nathaniel was soon smiling too.

——After School——

"Hey, Kat, wait!" Nathaniel jogged towards Kat.

"What's up, hon?"

"I…" Nathaniel paused and glanced at Adrien, who was waiting while holding the car door open. Nathaniel shook his head. "Never mind."

"Aw, come on. What is it?"

Nathaniel glanced at Adrien again. Kat noticed and a knowing look crossed her features.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about Adrien, sweetie. You can go ahead and get in, Adrien. You don't have to wait for me to get in." Instead of getting in, Adrien closed the door and strolled up to where Kat and Nathaniel were.

"What're you talking about?" He asked. Nathaniel shyly shrunk into himself.

"Nothing," he said quietly.

"Nothing, huh? You weren't going to ask Kat if she could hang out?" Kat blushed at Adrien's question. Nathaniel stared at the ground. Adrien laughed. "Hey, don't worry about it. As long as my sister likes you, I like you. Maybe not as much as Kat, though."

"Sister?"

"Yeah, I'm Adrien's pretend sister. I'd call him 'my pretend brother', but I think I like just 'brother' better."

"Oh. Okay." Nathaniel started to smile, relief evident in his eyes. "So...do you want to hang out then, Kat?"

"Yeah, I'd like that," Kat blushed. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. They stood awkwardly for what seemed like an eternity because neither of them really knew what to do. Adrien watched for a minute, rolled his eyes, then intervened.

"So, Nathaniel, Are you going to come with us to my house, or do you want to hang out with Kat somewhere else?" That snapped Nathaniel out of it.

"Um…wherever you're comfortable Kat."

"Well, I haven't seen much of Paris yet. What about a tour?"

"That's a great idea!" Adrien exclaimed. "You two go explore, I'll go home. Just make sure you're back by like six."

Nathaniel and Kat grinned at each other and set off, Nathaniel leading, Kat barely two steps behind. Adrien waited until he couldn't hear them anymore, then got in the car to go home.

"Have you been to the Louvre? Oh, that new movie is out, have you seen it? Maybe we could go to the park!"

"I'll be happy with whatever we do!"

And with that, they set off in search of adventure.


	9. Parts 8 and 9

**Note: I have combined parts 8 and 9 so the chapter numbers line up with the parts. I also felt that part 8 just didn't go far enough.**

 **Part 8: Chatty Katty**

Nathaniel and Kat had an amazing time seeing sights around Paris. They went to The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and more than one bakery. It was after they had visited one of the bakeries that someone called the That Chat phone. Nathaniel was pushing Kat on a swing while she ate her cupcake when the phone rang.

——About Twenty Minutes Earlier at the School——

"Ugh, why do I have to stay after?" Chloe buffed her nails with a disgusted expression on her face. "I didn't do anything. It's her fault."

"What did I do, though? I-I don't know what I did." Poor little Rose was near tears.

"You both have to stay after because you said that Rose destroyed your clothes," Miss Bustier scowled. "Principal Damocles will give you your punishments."

They entered the principal's office.

"Ah, hello." Principal Damocles sighed. Once again, Chloe was in his office with an accusation. "What do you have to say this time?"

"Rose completely destroyed the clothes that I made for our project! She should be suspended!"

"Chloe," Rose said, her voice tight, her eyes full of tears, "I didn't do that. I don't know who did."

"Perhaps we should figure out who actually did it," Damocles suggested.

Chloe cleared her throat in the stupid way she always did and pointed at her phone. "I don't think my father would agree."

"Then again," Damocles said, his eyes widening, "Chloe is...very trustworthy. Rose, you're suspended for a day."

Rose ran out of the room crying.

——Cue Hawkmoth——

Muahaha, go my akuma, yadda yadda yadda.

The akuma flew out the window towards where Rose was crying by the side of the school. Before it went a full city block, Rose remembered the flyer in her bag. She couldn't help but like Kat and how positive she was. Kat seemed like exactly who she wanted to talk to. Rose wiped away a tear as she dialed the number.

——Back at the Park——

"Hey, Nathaniel, look," said Kat, the corner of her mouth lifting. "Our first call."

"That's great," Nathaniel replied. Kat answered the phone while Nathaniel continued pushing her. He smiled at the thought of Kat helping someone. It seemed like something she enjoyed, and seeing her happy made him happy.

"Hi, this is Kat with That Chat, how can I help you?"

"Hi," Rose sniffed. "Um...I don't really know how this supposed to work."

"Just tell me what's wrong, or how you're feeling, and I can help you feel better."

"Okay…" Rose's voice wavered as she continued "...someone destroyed our class project and Chloe blamed me and took credit for making the clothes when it was really me."

"Aw, you poor thing," Kat cooed. Nathaniel nearly melted into the grass. He couldn't think of a more pleasant sound. "So, how do you feel? Sad, angry, what?"

"Sad, I guess."

"Well, don't get yourself down. You are amazing, and Chloe is a little twerp. Now, here's what I want you to do: go home if you're not there already, take a relaxing bath, put on the comfiest pajamas you have, make some hot chocolate, then curl up on a comfy chair with a good book, or movie. If you'd like to talk longer, just let me know."

"Could you...could you talk about something nice until I get home?"

"Of course," Kat smiled. "Just tell me when you're home, okay?"

"Okay."

Kat's face flushed with happiness as she described going around Paris with Nathaniel, and how much fun she'd had. After a few minutes, Rose got home.

"Thank you," she said. The akuma flew away.

"Hey, no problem. Be sure to call again if you need to."

Nathaniel could not stop grinning. He elbowed Kat in the side as he walked her home.

"So? Have you had fun?"

"Yes," Kat gushed. "Can we do it again sometime, my little tomato?"

"Of course." Nathaniel blushed sheepishly. "Your little tomato?"

"Oh, sorry," Kat said, casting her eyes down, "Do you not like it?"

"No, I don't like it...I love it!" Nathaniel laughed, a clear, happy sound. Kat started to giggle and soon joined in with his laughing.

"You are just too cute, Nathaniel! You should laugh more, I like how you laugh."

Nathaniel only blushed and took her hand. He walked with a happy smile on his face and a light heart. Kat walked with a song in her head and happiness vibrating the very fiber of her being.

——At the Agreste Mansion——

"Adrien, I'm hoooome!"

"Hi Kat!"

Adrien and Kat yelled back and forth to each other until they found the other (think Marco Polo).

"Did you have a good time?" Adrien asked.

"Yes! We went to the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower, and lots of bakeries. Oh, and then we went to the park and we had our first call on That Chat."

"That's awesome! I bet you stopped an akuma before it started." Adrien grinned.

"So what did you do while I was gone?"

"Just watched a show. Was Nathaniel nice?"

"Oh my goodness, yes. He is so sweet. He got me a cupcake, and a piece of cake, and a croissant, and this crepe thing—"

Mr. Agreste cleared his throat from where he was standing at the top of the main stairs. Kat did a double take when she noticed him.

"Oh, hello, Mr. Agreste. I didn't see you there."

"Where were you?" Mr. Agreste lifted an eyebrow while simultaneously scowling.

"Just at the park with a...a friend."

"I will not have you wandering around without permission while you're in my care."

"I'm sorry, sir," Kat replied, looking as scolded as possible. In her mind, though, she was thinking, 'Like I'm in your care'. If she had voiced this, she would have accompanied it with a raised eyebrow that would give Mr. Agreste a run for his money. "I was just, I don't know, spontaneous? I won't do it again if you don't want me to. I just never get to be spontaneous, so I assumed I might be able to…"

"At least call me or Nathalie next time you decide to be spontaneous," Mr. Agreste said, his expression softening a little. Kat looked up in surprise. Who would have thought that Gabriel Agreste would be okay with someone being spontaneous?

"Th-thank you. I'll do that."

Mr. Agreste left through the front doors, probably to another meeting. Unbeknownst to anyone, Mr. Agreste was beginning to like Kat, as impossible as that may seem. She seemed to have that effect on most people, even the ones she didn't necessarily like.

 **Part 9: Kat and an Idea**

 **Note: I know it's a big gap in time, but hopefully it makes sense.**

——After the Events of the All Episodes up to Dark Owl——

"I'm so tired," Adrien yawned as he got in the car, Kat a step behind him. His bodyguard grunted in reply. It had been a few weeks since That Chat had been set up, and nobody seemed to want to call. Adrien had been hoping it would take off so he could get some sleep, but it hadn't. He'd had a late night and only got a half an hour of sleep. He yawned once again and settled into his seat. Kat smiled, one of those half smiles that only lifts up a corner of one's mouth, as Adrien fell asleep on her shoulder.

Over the last few weeks, Kat had I began to love Adrien more and more. She loved her little brother with all her heart, and silently giggled when he would sit half awake in class with what she thought was the most adorable sleepy scowl she had ever seen. The only thing that could have made her happier was if her father was here with her. Kat's relationship with Nathaniel had continued on, through school and home. When Adrien was gone saving the world, Kat would call Nathaniel and talk for hours on end to ease the worry. It also helped when Marinette was being distant. Marinette had finally started warming up to her, but their relationship left a lot to be desired.

Kat nudged Adrien awake as they neared school.

"C'mon, cinnamon bun, we're almost to school," she said softly, gently pushing his head upright.

"I don't wanna wake up." Adrien sat bleary eyed, barely keeping his head up.

"I know, sweetie, but look. We're at school now."

Adrien rubbed his eyes while Kat guided him to class. For once, Marinette was on time, and sighed when she saw Adrien's tired little expression. He reminded her of a kitten. Kat winked at Marinette as she walked by. Marinette blushed and focused on the back of Adrien's head.

"Everyone sit down, please." Miss Bustier began to call roll. Nino elbowed Adrien, who was quietly snoring. "Adrien?"

"I'm awake, I'm awake!" Adrien exclaimed with a snort. A few kids giggled as he put his head back down on the desk. Miss Bustier continued taking roll. Marinette almost had the same reaction as Adrien, but managed to just say, "Here."

Kat paid little attention to anything that was said that day. She tapped her foot as she tried to figure out how to give Adrien a little time off because she knew if he kept going on like this, he'd make himself sick. She'd be worried about Marinette, too, but to her it seemed like Marinette didn't sleep much anyways. Kat sighed and propped her head up with her hand (like most people do in school when they're bored). Nothing short of another superhero would do the trick. Another superhero...Kat's eyes lit up. She grabbed her sketchbook, which Nathaniel had bought her, off the desk and started sketching as quietly as she could. She may not have a Kwami like Chat and Ladybug, but if she could pull this off...she'd need material, and lots of it...maybe some lightweight collapsible tech…she finished her sketch as the bell rang for the end of the school day. She excitedly hopped up, gave Nathaniel a quick hug goodbye, and began planning.

——At the Agreste Mansion——

After the car ride home, Kat put Adrien to bed and set to work on her idea. She couldn't figure out where to start, so she pulled out a notebook and made a list with little notes here and there. The list looked a little something like this:

List of what I need to do:

Learn more martial arts moves (I've probably got a ways to go)

I know Karate and Taekwondo (thanks Dadda and Master George)

Learn Jujitsu maybe?

Bodybuild/exercise in general (can't let the bad guys win)

Gymnastics. Need to practice. It's been a while, but hopefully I can remember stuff.

Is there a gym here? (Find gym)

Make a suit

Definitely black. And cat themed.

Half-jacket with tank top (spiky things too?)

Good pair of boots

Need domino mask

Spandex? Cotton? Both?

Come up with name

Maybe Panther?

Corbeau (French for Raven. Maybe just Raven)

Weapons

Fists, obvs

Collapsible staff like Chat's, but not quite

Batman-esque belt that can hold everything

Glitter bombs? (Villains would have glitter in their food for like a year haha)

Extras

Anti Gravity boots maybe?

Grappling hooks

Flight mode for suit

Kat decided to start by designing the staff, then researching gyms in the area, then designing the belt. She was just getting into it when someone knocked on the front door. Kat had grown up running to answer the door, so she made sure to hide her plans under her mattress and quickly ran to throw open the front door.

"Where is he? Where's my Adrikins?" Chloe tried to push her way in, but Kat barred the way.

"Adrien is asleep," she glared, "and you are not coming in."

"Ugh, get outta my way."

"No," Kat replied simply. Chloe stopped trying to get through. An evil smile contorted her features.

"You know he doesn't really care about you. I was his friend first," she added, trying to use the very same trick she had used on everybody since she was little.

Chloe would try to undermine Kat's confidence, use her insecurities against her. Little did she know, Kat's insecurities amounted to one thing...she wished she was about an inch taller. Kat had always been fairly happy with how she looked: a little on the skinny side, but still a little curvy, and happy. And even without that much wanted inch, Kat was still an inch and a half taller than Chloe, which made her very happy indeed.

"Why would I believe anything you say?" Asked Kat. She herself was hiding what she considered to be an evil smile.

"Because I know Adrien, and he would leave you alone in an instant if I asked him."

"Oh? Well, if you know Adrien that well, then what is his favorite color?"

(I'm going to be completely guessing on Adrien's favorites and whatnot)

"Blue, like my eyes, obviously."

"Actually, it's midnight blue, which is like ten shades darker than your eyes, and you are not really his friend. Now, leave and don't come back," Kat added, a dark anger clouding her eyes. Chloe would have left screaming if she had noticed.

"Why would his favorite color be midnight blue? It makes no sense. He's seen my eyes."

"Go away, Chloe."

"I'm not going away until I see him! He looked so tired and he might need cuddles."

"I've got 'cuddles' covered. Now go away." Kat slammed the door in Chloe's face and locked it. She sighed and went back to her room to research. Kat opened the door a couple hours later to a very tired and very confused Gabriel Agreste.


	10. Part 10

**Part 10: Why Gabriel Agreste Is An Idiot and We Hate Him (Or I Do)**

 **Note: There are definitely spoilers from season 2 from here on out. I'm also assuming a few things later in the part. The title will make sense in the end.**

——In the Front Yard of the Mansion——

Mr. Agreste woke up in the bushes in his front yard. He had not slept well, and did not remember how he had come to be there. He distinctly remembered akumatizing the wannabe superhero principal, de-transforming, and going to bed, but he did not know how he had got to laying in the bushes. He picked himself up and went in the mansion. Except, the door was locked. This just added to his confusion. Mr. Agreste pounded on the door a few times and Kat let him in.

He was so tired and confused that he didn't even ask why the door was locked, or what time it was. He shut himself in his room as Adrien woke up.

"Mmm," Adrien sighed, cracking his eyes open. He was still very tired, but he felt refreshed. He wandered out of his room in search of food, for both himself and Plagg. Kat found him rooting around the fridge for something good to eat.

"Hey, bunny-bun. Whatcha lookin' for?"

"Food." Adrien's stomach growled. Kat smirked as she took him by the wrist and directed him towards one of the cupboards.

"Here," she said as she opened it. "I noticed that this cupboard was always empty, so I've started compiling food here. The good stuff, not the weird green crap you have to eat."

Adrien laughed in delight at the cinnamon rolls, stuff to make PB and J, and other assorted things.

"Thank you, Kat!"

"Hey, what are big sisters for?"

While Adrien was slowly making his way through Kat's stache, Mr. Agreste was berating Nooroo.

"How could you not know what happened?" A low growl laced his words, making Nooroo quiver.

"I-I could not possibly know, Master," Nooroo said, his little knees knocking together. He did, in fact, know what had happened. It took a lot out of him, but Nooroo had successfully made Gabriel Agreste jump out the window. It should be noted that this was only possible because Mr. Agreste had accidentally transformed in his sleep, and Nooroo could take over because Mr. Agreste was unconscious. It was a truly hilarious scene, and would have been enjoyed by many, had the Agreste Mansion been popular enough to draw a crowd. Luckily for one very cold hearted man, nobody was around.

Mr. Agreste's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hello, sir. Your board meeting starts in twenty minutes."

"Thank you, Nathalie."

Mr. Agreste strolled down to the main floor, almost to the door, then turned and went to find Adrien and Kat. And find them he did. Kat was acting pretty normal, just rooting around the cupboards, while Adrien was staring at a spoon, appearing to ponder the wonders of the utensil. What Mr. Agreste couldn't see was the bowl of deliciously sugary yogurt hidden on a stool under the bar.

"I will be out late tonight and I expect you both to behave. If invited, you may go out with friends until 8:00."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Agreste."

"Yes, Father."

Mr. Agreste scowled at their behavior. He shrugged imperceptibly and left.

"Yes, he's gone!" Kat exclaimed when they heard the door close. Adrien lifted an eyebrow.

"Why're you so excited?"

"I want you to teach me some moves."

"Uh...what?"

"You know, superhero moves. Defensive, offensive, whatever."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Oh, come on! Please? I could be your sparring partner, and then we could train together and…hey, if you perfect new moves, maybe Ladybug will—"

"All right, I'll do it! But can I finish my yogurt first?"

——In Adrien's Room After He Finished His Yogurt——

"All right, try that again."

Kat kicked up, hitting the pillow in Adrien's hand. It was a good foot and a half above her head, but she was flexible and only needed a little hop to reach it.

"Good! You're doing really well."

"Thanks," Kat said. They'd been at this for at least twenty minutes now, and Kat wasn't the least bit winded.

"Should we take a break?" Adrien asked, grinning a little half grin.

"No way!" Kat squealed. "I'm having fun, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Adrien admitted. He held the pillow up. "Ready? Go!"

——One Week Later——

"And that concludes today's lesson." Mrs. Bustier closed her book and excused the class. The rustle of backpacks and papers filled the room as the students got ready to go home. It had been a good day, and aside from being a tad sleepy, Adrien and Kat were very happy. That is, until they got home.

Mr. Agreste was in one of his 'moods'. He hadn't been in one of those moods many times since Kat came. In fact, it hadn't happened in at least a month and a half. Unfortunately, that 'good' streak ended.

When the two came in the door laughing and smiling, Mr. Agreste scowled angrily. Usually Kat's happiness was infectious, but today it annoyed Mr. Agreste. He curtly sent her to her room and asked for Adrien to join him in his study. The look Adrien gave Kat would haunt her dreams for a while. It was a look of resignation, despair, and fear.

In his study, Mr. Agreste began to yell at Adrien for everything he had done wrong, which was nothing, really.

"Father, I'm sorry," Adrien said, fear still in his eyes, voice a good deal higher than usual.

"Sorry isn't good enough," Mr. Agreste snapped. Adrien could practically see the flames dancing in his eyes.

"What should I do? I-I don't know what you want me to say."

"Stop whining!" Mr. Agreste drew back his hand. "This is for your own good."

Adrien cringed away, closing his eyes as tight as possible, and braced himself. There was a loud smack, one so loud that Nathalie heard it outside of the room. Adrien sprinted out the doors a moment later, covering part of his face, tears running down his cheeks. Usually at a moment like that, he would have hidden in a random guest room until he was calm enough to apply some makeup to cover the bruise. This time, though, he ran straight to Kat, threw his arms around her, and sobbed.

Kat was taken aback by this, but quickly recovered and held him close.

"Sh, sh, it's all right. It'll be okay," she whispered in his ear. She had yet to see his face. "It's alright, it's okay."

It took a minute, but Adrien was finally able to calm down enough to talk. They leaned back away from each other.

"What happened?" Kat exclaimed. Her mouth dropped open and her brows furrowed. She was horrified. She placed a tentative finger on the still fresh bruise. "Did...did your dad do this?"

Adrien nodded. Kat saw red, and, in a fit of anger, went to find Gabriel Agreste.

 **I have assumed based on his personality and violent actions in the series (throwing a fit and throwing stuff all over his study) that Mr. Agreste is abusive. It kinda makes sense to me, so…yeah. There is no retribution for his actions in this part, but, rest assured, there will be in the next. Muahaha! The best vengeance is sweet and swift. *evil smile***


	11. Part 11: Muahahaha (kind of)

Kat stomped down the hall. Adrien tried to stop her.

"Kat, it's nothing, I promise. It's not that big of deal."

"Not. That. Big. Of. Deal?" Anger laced Kat's voice. "He hurt you. I mean, I believe that being spanked helps if it's only used to discipline after continued warnings and time-outs. As a last resort. But he didn't spank you. He hurt you for no reason."

"It...it was for my own good," Adrien tried, parroting his father's words.

"No. No, it wasn't." Kat turned a corner and nearly ran into Nathalie. "Oh, hello Nathalie. Where's Mr. Agreste?"

"He just left for a meeting."

"Drive us."

"What?"

"Take. Us. To. Mr. Agreste."

Nathalie didn't know what it was about Kat that scared her, but she didn't like it. Kat was very nice, and very companionable 99% of the time, and this was not one of those times. Nathalie sighed and gestured towards the garage.

"Right this way, Miss Kat. Will Adrien be coming?"

"I don't know." Kat turned to Adrien, and, making sure to push the anger out of her voice, asked, "Will you?"

Adrien nodded, completely resigned to whatever would come. At that moment, he would have bet his life that his father really would beat him for letting this happen.

——At Mr. Agreste's Meeting——

Mr. Agreste had almost finished with his presentation when Kat stormed in, a flustered Nathalie behind her.

"Sorry, sir—" Nathalie started to say. Kat grabbed Mr. Agreste by the ear and angrily attempted to pull him out of the conference room. There were quite a few "What in the world?"s and a fair amount of surprise. No one objected, however. The top designers that worked with Mr. Agreste found this scene quite funny. That is, until Mr. Agreste pulled away, almost as angry as Kat.

"What are you doing?" He hissed.

"You may want to come outside before I answer that," Kat said tersely.

"Sir," Nathalie whispered, "you really may want to address the situation outside."

"Very well," Mr. Agreste sighed. He nodded to the designers. "Gentleman, ladies, I'll be just a moment."

Outside the room, Kat got straight to the point. Well, almost.

"How dare you?" She whispered.

"What?"

"How. Dare. You."

"How dare I what?"

"You hurt Adrien!" Kat flicked her hand in Adrien's general direction. Adrien ducked farther behind Nathalie. The only thing anyone could see now was the top of his hair. Mr. Agreste glared.

"It was for his own good."

"No! I know you keep telling him that, and you need to stop! It's pretty obvious that it is not for his own good."

"Your parents didn't discipline you at all, it seems."

"Oh, no, they disciplined me. What they didn't do was beat me!"

"I do not 'beat' Adrien."

"Oh, no, of course not," Kat said sarcastically, "he got that bruise while modeling."

"Kat, please stop," Adrien asked in a small voice, almost too small to be heard. Kat changed her tone to one of kindness.

"I'm sorry, cinnamon bun," she said, "but I'm not going to. I can't let you get hurt again."

"He's not hurt," Mr. Agreste sneered.

"What do you call that bruise then? A fashion statement?"

"Uh, uh…" Mr. Agreste's mouth opened and closed like a fish.

"That's what I thought. Come on, Adrien." Kat took him by the hand and started to lead him away. Mr. Agreste recovered and began to threaten them.

"Get back here right now or I'll—"

"Or you'll what? Hit us? You're lucky I haven't called Child Protective Services."

Once again, Mr. Agreste was silent. As he returned to the conference room, it occurred to him that Kat had all the ammo she needed to utterly destroy him. He was silent for the rest of his meeting.

——In the Car——

Nathalie took a deep breath and began to speak.

"That was…" she sighed and continued, "you can't tell Mr. Agreste what I'm about to say." She glanced in the mirror. "Promise you won't repeat me."

"I promise," Kat replied immediately, "and I don't break my promises."

"I...it depends on what you say. I can't lie to my father."

"I can't say it unless you give me your word, Adrien."

"All-all right. You have my word."

"Good," Nathalie said. "That was very brave of you, Kat, I'm very proud. I've wanted to say something for the longest time, but I...I just couldn't."

"Well, uh, thanks Nathalie," Kat blushed. Kat usually just got in trouble for talking to adults like she had talked to Mr. Agreste. That is, unless her dad agreed with her, which was most of the time, but it was usually her mom who picked her up when stuff happened, and her mother almost never agreed with her.

——Back at the Agreste Mansion after being treated to ice cream by Nathalie——

Kat giggled at Adrien's puns. He was still a little shocked, but felt much better. Now that he was really thinking about it, he allowed himself to admit that maybe his dad was a little abusive. But only a little. He still felt like he somehow deserved it.

"So...how's the bruise feeling?" Kat asked.

"Fine," Adrien lied. It was actually still sore. Kat knew this and pursed her lips. She lead him to the kitchen where she gave him a couple cinnamon rolls and put three parts water, one part rubbing alcohol in a bag and put it in the freezer. "What's that?"

"It'll freeze, but remain moldable. You can put it on your bruise."

Adrien would have argued, but he knew Kat knew his face hurt. He sighed and turned back to his cinnamon rolls. He breathed in their heavenly scent and happily bit into one. He really, truly did love sweets. He didn't get them very often on his diet. Don't worry too much, though, dear reader. Diet doesn't mean starvation (plus, I just can't put him through anything else yet).

——The Next Friday——

"I don't want to leave you by yourself, cinnamon bun," Kat was saying. She was not looking forward to staying at Marinette's.

"I'll be fine, Kat," Adrien replied. "I'll call you if I need anything, ok?"

"Ok," she sighed. Kat waved as he left, and trudged to where Marinette was with Alya.

"I'm telling you, girl, I'm so close to figuring who Ladybug is!"

"Whatever you say, Alya," Marinette laughed. "I'll see you later."

"You know it, girl."

"Hi, Marinette."

"Hi, Kat."

Nathaniel ran up to them as they were leaving.

"Hey, Kat. Could I walk you home?"

"Sure, as long as Marinette comes with us."

"That's all right Kat," Marinette giggled, "you can take a scenic root or something."

"Thanks, Marinette." Kat gave her a quick hug and jogged off with Nathaniel. Marinette smiled. She was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, Kat wasn't as bad as she seemed.


	12. Part 12: Seam-ingly Super

**Part 12: Seam-ingly Super**

"Hello, Kat," Mrs. Dupain-Chang greeted. She smirked at the timid form of Nathaniel walking away. "Did you have a nice time with Nathaniel?"

"Y-yes," Kat giggled and blushed. Nathaniel really did seem to make her days better. She jogged up the stairs to find Marinette deep in a conversation with Tikki.

"I don't know, Tikki," Marinette was saying.

"Give her a chance, Marinette. Having someone to talk to is a good thing." Tikki didn't exactly like that Kat knew, but she was determined to make the best of it.

"All right," Marinette sighed. "I'll do it. For you."

Kat silently slid down the steps and made a little more noise when she came up. She didn't want to mess this chance up by making Marinette think she was eavesdropping. She had been, of course, but it was unintentional.

"Hi, Marinette," Kat said. She almost giggled at the somewhat frazzled looking Marinette, who was sitting at her sewing machine. "Hello there, Tikki."

"Hi, Kat," they both replied.

Marinette gestured to a pile of cloth next to her. "Wanna help?"

"Sure, I'd love to. What should I do?"

"Do you know where to put the pins?"

"Along the cutout line, right?"

"Yep. Make them as straight as you can, please."

"You got it."

They sat and worked in a companionable silence. It was quite nice for the both of them. After they finished, Kat decided to ask Marinette to help her with what she had been planning.

"Marinette?" Kat uncomfortably shifted from side to side.

"Yeah?"

"Uh, well, I had this idea, and...I want to know what you think."

"Sure," Marinette smiled. "What is it?"

"Well, you might not like it. Or you will, I don't know. Just hear me out."

"O-kay."

And Kat told her about having another superhero. She sketched stuff out in a notebook, and showed her the list (see part 9). When she finished explaining, she fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. Marinette remained unmoving in her chair for what seemed like forever. She finally nodded slowly.

"It's a good idea," she began, "Tikki, what do you think?"

The kwami hmmed and cocked her head to the side. Then to the other side. Then, thoughtfully, "It sounds like it might work."

"I'm glad you like it," Kat gushed, "do you think you could help me make the costume?"

"That actually sounds like fun," Marinette said.

And so they began. A few minutes passed. Kat paused for a moment and pulled out her phone.

"I'll be right back, Mari. I just need to make a call."

"To Nathaniel?" Marinette asked in a teasing way.

"No. To Adrien. I just want to check up on him."

"Why?" Marinette's eyebrows furrowed. Something wasn't right.

"I just want to check up on my baby brother. It's not like I need a reason." Marinette sighed and continued sewing.

As you know, dear reader, Kat did indeed have a reason, but confronting Mr. Agreste with Adrien in the room was extremely different than telling other people about it. She just wouldn't feel right if she said anything. If it got bad enough, she'd call child protective services, but until then, she wouldn't say anything. In other words, it's one thing to help deal with someone's problem, and a completely different thing to tell other people. Kat did not want gossip going around about anyone, let alone Adrien. She went out onto the roof thing (I don't know what to call it) and called Adrien. She spoke with him for a moment and made sure he was okay and then returned to Marinette's room. Marinette had worked fast, and had the top half of the new superhero suit done.

"Did you have an animal in mind, Kat?"

"I don't know," Kat replied, "a raven or a panther? Wait, nevermind about the raven. Panther."

"Are you sure about that? Raven would be pretty cool."

"Well...no, no. I'm sticking with panther. Adrien's allergic to feathers and I don't want to make him have an allergic reaction to me."

"I guess that makes sense."

They went back to sewing and pinning. It didn't take long for them to finish the suit itself. Okay, now, this might be boring, but I just really want to describe what the suit looked like, so...here goes.

The entire outfit is black.

The shirt looked like a form-fitting vest, meaning turtleneck type thing and covering most of the shoulders. Basically, imagine a vest, make it shirt material (one layer), and no zipper/buttons. It is not form-fitting for aesthetic, it is form-fitting because it needed to fit underneath a regular shirt.

The jacket is reversible, so the inside is blush pink (this is a very light pink). Kat can wear it at school and just reverse it if she needs to leave.

The pants are jeans-like, but stretchy enough to kick someone in the face, or do the splits, both of which Kat plans on doing. The pants have no seams, unlike jeans, and there is actually a secret spandex layer on the inside to avoid chafing and overall uncomfortableness.

The shoes that she will eventually get will be well thought out and created by Kat herself. They will be thigh-high boots like Chat's. Actually, just think Chat's boots, but up to mid-thigh. There will be reinforced joints and whatnot so they're super sturdy, but they will also remain pliable enough to sit cross-legged or on the knees without trouble. The reinforcements in the boots (which include springs) will help her jump considerably higher than the average person. They can be converted from heels to flats, which helps hide the fact that they're superhero boots. The can be easily put on thanks to the zip up back. In order to hide them more effectively, Kat begins to wear a knee-length blush pink skirt that matches the pink of her reversible jacket.

Instead of a mask, Kat decided on face paint. Black, of course. She can carry a bottle of it in her pocket and just smear it on to cover her eyes. Kind of like the masks Ladybug and Chat wear, but messy and hastily applied. It's also easily removable.

 **All right, I hope that wasn't too boring for anyone. I just really really wanted you guys to accurately imagine the suit, and I'm terrible at full on descriptions unless I just list off what it's like. I feel like I need to make it clear that I have full confidence in your abilities to imagine things as a reader, just not my abilities to describe it accurately. Anyway, hope you like this part :) There'll probably be more action in the next part.**


	13. Part 13: Kat-astrophe

**Part 13: Kat-astrophe**

 **Note: I used Google Translate for some of it, so hopefully it's translated right.**

"Thank you so much for helping me, Mari. It means a lot."

"No problem," Marinette smiled. They were both on the way to school, and Kat was wearing her new outfit. The reversible jacket was in pink mode, the black edges of the collar shining dully in the sun. Heels usually hurt Kat's feet, but she had managed to make a pair that didn't, and she loved them. She twirled her around as she walked, enjoying her new blush pink skirt. The white shirt she had chosen to wear over her black one worked well. It covered most of the one beneath it, with the exception of the turtle neck. The white panther clip-on earrings that Marinette had made tied the entire outfit together. Kat absolutely loved all of it, and Marinette had promised to make her six more sets of identical clothes (although some would be in different colors, complete with different colored reversible jackets).

Upon entering the room, Kat was surprised to see that no one was upset yet. She thought that Chloe would have done something by now. Even Adrien was back to his usual happy, funny self. Kat took her seat beside Nathaniel. Nathaniel stared at her with an open mouth and wide eyes.

"What?" Kat checked her skirt. "Do I have syrup on my skirt? I knew I should have gotten dressed after I ate."

"No, no," Nathaniel assured her, "no, you, you look...amazing."

"Thanks. You do too."

Nathaniel actually just had his normal clothes on, but Kat still thought he looked good in them.

——At the Agreste Mansion; Managers and Heads of Mr. Agreste's Companies are Meeting——

"What do you mean 'it won't be done til Friday'?" Mr. Agreste growled at the new intern. She cowered in fear, and not for the first time that morning.

"Please, sir, I'm just the messenger," she whimpered. Mr. Agreste sighed and dismissed her. He was having a terrible morning. It was about to get worse. A designer from Germany was coming to show him her works, and she couldn't speak French. This wouldn't have been a problem, but the translator came down with the flu, and wouldn't be able to translate.

"Hallo, Herr Agreste," the blonde greeted when she came through the conference room doors. "Ich bin hier, um Ihnen mein Portfolio zu präsentieren."

Translation: I'm here to show you my portfolio.

"What?"

The designer, Emily Hoelscher, repeated herself nervously. It was obvious to her that Mr. Agreste did not know what she was saying. She had already almost cried in the hallway when the translator called in sick. But that was to be expected. She was in a foreign place where they didn't speak German, she was meeting with one of the most well-known designers in the world, and she was seventeen. Plus, Mr. Agreste scared her.

Emily held out her portfolio with a shaky hand. Mr. Agreste took it from her with a look of realization. He leafed through the pages, nodding and tutting every few seconds.

"Impressive," he murmured. He looked up and realized that she didn't understand. He pointed at the portfolio and slowly enunciated, "Veeerrrry...gooood."

Emily still looked uncertain. Mr. Agrest pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to remember the little bit of German he knew.

"Um...Gehen?"

Translation: Go

Emily gasped and ran from the room as tears stung her eyes. Nathalie peered into the conference room.

"What did you say to her?" She asked, bewildered.

"I was trying to say 'very good' in German."

"What word did you use?"

"Gehen."

Nathalie facepalmed. "Sir, that means 'go'."

"Oops."

——Outside the Agreste Mansion——

Emily sat huddled in the bushes with her knees pulled up to her chin. She wiped her runny nose on her new sweater. She sat there crying for a few minutes. She stopped when a very pretty purple butterfly flew towards her. She smiled at it as it flew towards her. It landed on the pencil behind her ear and she was evilized.

And, as always, "Hello, Dark Angel," blah blah blah blah. Except this time, the victim couldn't speak French. He groaned and had Nathalie bring him his phone. He opened Google Translate and haltingly said what he had to say. Once she understood, she transformed or whatever and went onwards.

——At School——

Dark Angel (Emily) broke through the window.

"Du wirst mit mir kommen, Adrien Agreste."

Translation: You will come with me, Adrien Agreste.

She threw him over her shoulder and jumped back through the window. Marinette and Kat both shot up and

Adrien was in danger.

Kat sprinted to the locker rooms where she took of the skirt and shirt, shoved them in her locker, reversed her jacket, and slapped on some face paint. Her throat constricted in excitement and apprehension. Adrien was in danger, and Kat was going to help save him. She couldn't wait.

——In a Lair Place (unused subway tunnel)——

"Dein Vater wird kommen, um dich zu retten."

Translation: Your father will come to save you.

Adrien, who was somewhat more fluent in German than his father, replied with, "Sei dir da nicht zu sicher."

Translation: Do not be too sure about that.

Emily was taken aback. Surely, Mr. Agreste wasn't that horrible to his own son. Adrien saw the look and sighed. Why was everyone so surprised?

A couple minutes later, Ladybug ran down the tunnel with...another hero? Adrien almost screamed. He recognized Panther/Kat.

"Wer bist du?" Emliy asked. "Herr Hawkmoth, wer ist das?"

Translation: who are you? Mr. Hawkmoth, who is this?

"Mein Name ist Panther," Panther replied, taking everyone by surprise, "und das ist Marienkäfer."

Translation: My name is Panther, and that's Ladybug.

 **Hey, so sorry it's not longer, but I've decided to split this into two parts. Hope it doesn't make you too sad or mad or whatever. I really hope you enjoyed this part.**


	14. Part 14

**Part 14: Kat-tastrophe Continued**

 **Note: Once again, I have used google translate, so I hope nothing is seriously wrong with the words. Also, with the names—I don't know if I've explained this before, but I have, I will again. I use the superhero/villain name if they're in their suits, and I use the regular names when they're in their civilian forms/clothes.**

"Was lässt dich denken, dass du mich besiegen kannst?"

Translation: What makes you think you can defeat me?

"Wir sind superhelden," Panther smirked.

Translation: We are superheroes.

"What are you saying?" Ladybug asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You're speaking some weird language."

"No, I'm not. I've been speaking English since I got here."

"K—I mean Panther—you've been speaking French."

"People keep telling me that, yet I'm still speaking English."

Ladybug sighed and pointed to Dark Angel.

"Ask her what she's speaking, because it's not English, and it's definitely not French."

"Fine." Panther rolled her eyes. "Welche Sprache sprechen wir?"

Translation: Which language do we speak?

"Deutsche."

Translation: German.

"Apparently I can speak German now, too," Panther said, throwing her hands in the air.

Dark Angel and Hawkmoth were quite confused. Dark Angel had no idea what anyone was saying, and Hawkmoth couldn't figure out why Chat Noir was a girl called Panther now (obviously he doesn't know it's Kat with paint on her eyes because everyone in the city is apparently oblivious to everything).

"Ich dachte, Chat Noir wäre ein Junge."

Translation: I thought Chat Noir was a boy.

"I am not Chat Noir. Ich bin kein Chat Noir." (I think this one explains itself)

It was at this point that Panther realized where the akuma was. Instead of the usual 'villain tries to get away and Ladybug saved the day' thing, Panther took advantage of the temporary confusion to walk up and grab the pencil from behind Dark Angel's ear. She broke it and Ladybug de-evilized the akuma in a half-daze. Kat untied Adrien and carried him out of the subway tunnel over one shoulder. Ladybug followed behind, gently guiding Emily out. Adrien tapped her on the back.

"So, um, Panther?"

"Yeah, cinna—er, Adrien?"

"Could you put me down?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Panther said sheepishly and put him down.

They weren't far from the school, so Ladybug parted ways with Panther and Adrien. Panther headed off towards the locker rooms and Adrien towards the classroom. Adrien paused a little ways down the hall to absorb everything. Kat had been out, in costume, in danger, while he was tied up by an akuma victim. He groaned and let out a defeated sigh. Kat's first mission, and he was tied up.

Kat had finished changing and found Adrien sitting in the hall.

"You okay, cinnamon bun?"

"Yeah," he sighed, "I just hate that I wasn't able to help you."

"It's okay, sweetie. You can't save everybody all the time. Sometimes you have to let them save themselves."

Adrien smiled. "I guess you sometimes have to re-Agreste the situation."

"Yeah," Kat laughed. She took his hand and helped him up. "Come on."

They returned to their classroom together, both hoping that their reappearance wasn't suspicious. And, of course, it wasn't, because nothing is ever suspicious to anyone in the show. Nothing was noticed (of course) but not for the reason they thought, seeing as one certain Gabriel Agreste was looking quite worried while speaking with Sabrina's father (Roger). Everyone stopped and gasped when Adrien walked in unharmed. Mr. Agreste quickly enveloped Adrien in his arms. Adrien was quite taken aback, and so was Kat. She looked at the two in surprise and felt her heart warming. Maybe, just maybe, there was hope for him yet. It might take a while, Kat thought, but maybe, with a little help, Mr. Agreste might change. It might be a stretch, but in the Miraculous world, anything is possible (who can say 'potential character development that may or may not happen'?).

——That Afternoon——

Mr. Agreste had actually tried to stay with both Adrien and Kat all day. It was only after a half an hour long argument with Officer Roger Raincomprix that Mr. Agreste finally agreed to go home for a few hours. All of his actions so far that day were confusing to say the least. Most people had assumed he was pretty distant, but they were beginning to think otherwise. Kat, however, after the initial shock and 'aaww' moment, began trying to puzzle it all out. If Mr. Agreste's actions were sincere, then maybe he could change. But what if he was just trying to seem like a normal dad? Or maybe he felt bad for akumatizing someone that abducted Adrien. Kat sighed, and hoped that Mr. Agreste was changing. It would be nice not to lose sleep on the weekends.

The bell rang and the students filed out the door. Kat and Adrien climbed into the car where Mr. Agreste was waiting.

"What would you like to do today?" He asked.

"What?" They asked simultaneously.

"Well, I thought you might like to go to the mall, or perhaps see a movie? It's up to you."

Mr. Agreste sounded happy and sincere, but Kat had to wonder whether or not he actually was, because he barely showed any emotion. Adrien, however, jumped on the opportunity. It was not likely to come around again.

"That sounds awesome! What should we do, Kat? A movie?"

"That sounds nice," she said a bit distantly. Was Mr. Agrest up to something? Or was all of this really genuine? Adrien almost bounced up and down in excitement. Kat relaxed a little when she saw how happy he was. Whatever Mr. Agreste's intentions, Adrien was happy, and Kat didn't want to ruin it.

——After Seeing a Movie at the Mall——

The two teenagers walked out of the theater in a daze. Mr. Agreste still had his usual expression. Kat spied a laser tag arena and decided to test exactly how far Mr. Agreste would take the charade.

"Let's do laser tag!" Kat grinned, thinking that Mr. Agreste would never do it. With a pained look on his face, he replied, "All right."

Kat gaped at him. Never, in a million years, had she ever, ever thought that Gabriel Agreste would agree to laser tag.

Ten minutes later, the trio were hiding in various spots around the arena. Mr. Agreste found the area quite pleasing, as it reminded him of his lair before the window thing opened. It was an enjoyable time for all three of them.

 **Hey, so I hope you liked this. There will be more problems that arise in the future (as always) but I thought I'd let this part end on a nice note.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Part 15: Exchange**

 **Note: This first bit is just kinda fluff. My life is gonna get really busy soon, so I apologize in advance for any and all long pauses in writing.**

Over the next few days, Gabriel Agreste watched his children like a hawk (and yes, his children. He'd come to think of Kat as his daughter, not that she realized it). Everywhere Mr. Agreste went, he took Kat and Adrien with him. Kat told him to stop after she'd missed an entire school day. She might be a bit of a prodigy, but she hated homework with a passion. It took a half an hour of negotiation, but Mr. Agreste agreed to just pick them up from school.

—In a Meeting with Representatives of Mr. Agreste's Company—

Kat spun around in a wheelie chair (the desk chair thing that seems to be in every office ever). The chair squeaked squeakity squeaked, so much so that the head representative yelled at her.

"Stop that right now!" He exploded, grabbing the chair and leaning over Kat. "Hold this chair still, or so help me—aah!"

Kat grabbed him arm and twisted it around as Mr. Agreste yanked him back by his shoulder. The other representatives gasped at the scene.

"You will not touch her," Mr. Agreste growled. Kat blinked in surprise. This certainly wasn't something she thought he'd do. Adrien smiled at him softly. His father seemed a little different lately, and Adrien liked how he'd changed.

Kat began to smile softly, too. She thought it was sweet that Mr. Agreste had defended her. Not that that would stop her from calling him out on every little thing he did, but still.

Mr. Agreste pulled both Kat's and Adrien's chairs closer to his and continued his meeting. Kat smirked at the head representative the entire time.

Halfway through, Emily Hoelscher walked in.

"Ah, there you are, Emily," Mr. Agreste said.

"Hallo, Herr Agreste." Emily fidgeted. Her translator was once again unavailable. Kat and Adrien stepped in. Kat would have done it by herself, but considering that her alter ego was fluent in German, she thought it would be good to struggle with it a little. She'd translate some, then ask Adrien on parts. It worked well, considering that neither was actually a translator, and one was pretending not to know.

"Thank you, Emily," Mr. Agreste said. Kat translated. "Is she not one of the brightest designers?"

Everyone nodded, for Emily's designs were extremely beautiful.

—The Next Day—

"I suppose I'll see you on Monday," Mr. Agreste said to Kat. It was now Friday, and Kat was going to Marinette's after school. She was a bit apprehensive about it. Mr. Agreste had been quite nice for a while, but Kat knew it couldn't last, and she wanted to be there when he snapped.

"Yeah," Kat said, following Adrien to class.

—In Class—

"Everyone, settle down," Miss Bustier was saying. Nathaniel poked Kat in the arm.

"Hey," he whispered.

"Hi," she whispered back. She glanced over at the paper he pushed towards her. Kat stifled a snort and giggled as quietly as she could. "Is...is that Chloe?"

The picture was a simple one, just a sketch, really. It showed Chloe pouting. The expression was quite funny, and a bit ugly. It almost didn't look like her the way her face was twisted.

"An ugly face for an ugly personality," Kat smirked.

"Ahem." Miss Bustier raised an eyebrow. "Who is that, in your picture?"

Nathaniel's mouth moved up and down, the words not coming. Kat took it in stride.

"Oh, it's just a character I thought up. Her name is Chl-Coriander. She's the, uh, villain. Or maybe an anti-hero. I don't know yet. Nathaniel drew her for me."

"Hm." Miss Bustier handed the two some papers and walked back to the front of the room. Kat breathed a relieved sigh.

"Nice save," Nathaniel said. Kat nodded. She focused on her work and silently urged Nathaniel to focus,too, with a smile. She really did enjoy spending time with him, especially when she knew Adrien was safe.

Nathaniel also enjoyed spending time with Kat. She always seemed to have something on her mind, though. He'd already decided that he wouldn't pry. He knew she was very honest and would tell him when she was ready. He smiled as she nudged his elbow with hers.

—Later, at the Dupain-Cheng's Bakery—

"Hi, Mari. Hello, Kat dear," Mrs. Dupain-Cheng said. She smiled at Nathaniel, who was trailing behind. "Hello, Nathaniel. Would you kids like some cream puff?"

"Ooh, yes please!" Kat squealed. Nathaniel shyly took a few, too.

The three went up to Marinette's room. Marinette turned on some music while Kat got out some fingernail polish.

"I hope you don't mind if we paint our nails while we study, Nathaniel."

"It's all right." Nathaniel settled down on the floor between the two girls. He didn't mind. He opened his book and timidly started asking questions, each one sounding a little more comfortable as he went. Kat smiled.

"Hey, my little tomato, would you go get us some more snacks, please?"

"Sure," Nathaniel replied. He got up, but only went two steps before Marinette threw her head back and took a long, raspy breath.

"Marinette? Are you okay? What's the matter?" Kat and Nathaniel both started freaking out. They freaked out more so when Marinette collapsed.

—A Few Minutes Earlier—

Allie Laurens sat with a huff. Why did her parents treat her like a baby? And why couldn't she hang out with her older sister?

—Hawkmoth's lair—

"Ah, the anger, the sadness. Muahaha."

Blah blah blah, akuma, blah, hello Switchblade, yadda yadda yadda.

—Back to Allie—

"Yes, Hawkmoth," she grinned. The purple stuff enveloped her. "Oh, the power!"

"Would you like to try them out?" Hawkmoth asked via the telepathy thing.

"What shall I test them on?"

"You mean who," Hawkmoth smirked. "Try reaching out and switching Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"As you wish, Hawkmoth."

—The Present, in Mari's Room—

"Do you think she's okay?"

"I don't know, hon. That was really weird. Just grab her arms and help me get her on the futon thing."

"You don't know what it's called?"

"You don't know either."

"Fair enough." Nathaniel helped Kat move Marinette on the futon/couch/cushioned furniture thing. After assuring Mari's parents, and Nathaniel, that Mari would probably be fine, Kat sent Nathaniel on his way. (She promised to text him when she found out what happened.) She figured that whatever happened was part of the miraculous, or maybe an akuma (she's right, obvs). Kat hurried back to Marinette's room and found Tikki.

"Do you have any idea what happened, Tikki?" Kat asked. The kwami shook her head.

"Not a clue."

Kat sighed and ran a hand through her hair, a habit she'd picked up from her dad. Marinette flew into a seated position. Kat jumped back and Tikki hid behind her.

"Mari?"

Marinette's eyes were wide. She stared up at Kat.

"Kat? What are you doing here?"

"It's Friday. I'm always here on Fridays. And Saturdays. And Sundays."

"But…" Marinette looked around. "Hey, wait a second. This is Mari's room."

"You mean your room?"

"No I mean—wait, what happened to my voice?" Marinette looked down and gasped. "I'm in girl's clothes. Not that I'm complaining. It's just...they're not mine. What's going on?"

"Okay, you're kinda freaking me out, Marinette."

"Why are you calling me Marinette? I'm Adrien."

"What."

"Yeah, I'm—"

"That wasn't really a question," Kat said, her voice an octave higher than normal.

"Oh, sorry."

"No, don't apologize. Okay, this is really trippy."

"I'll say."

 **Hey so, sorry in advance (again). I'll update as often as possible, but it might be a few weeks in between them each.**


	16. Pat 16

**Part 16: Exchange Continued**

——Marinette's Room——

"What do we do? Whatdowedo? Whatdowedo?" Adrien/Mari was saying, slowly building up to hyperventilating. Kat couldn't resist replying with the Doctor Who theme song.

"Dooweeoooo!"

"Kat, this is serious!"

"Sorry." Kat took a breath. She found one of her six notebooks (she had a lot because was planning on making this into a fanfic back home hehehe). She began making a list, mostly to help Adrinette (haha) calm down. (Just so you know, Adrinette will be Adrien in Mari's body, and Marien will be Marinette in Adrien's body.) "Okay, think this through, Adrien. What should we do?"

"Uh, um, oh I don't know!"

"How about we go find you, er, Marinette first?"

"Okay," Adrinette replied. He/she still couldn't stop hyperventilating.

"Hey, sweetie, take a deep breath. With me, okay? Ready?" Adrinette nodded. "Okay. In, 2, 3, 4, out 2, 3, 4. In, 2, 3, 4, out, 2, 3, 4. Better?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, now, we'll go find Mari. Then what?"

"We should…contact Ladybug."

"Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh? What's uh-oh?"

"Nothing. I just, uh, don't know how to contact Ladybug." The statement sounded like a question.

"We'll figure it out."

"Aw crap. We need to get to Marinette, and fast."

"Why?" Understanding then dawned on his/her face. "Oh no."

"Plagg," they said together.

——In the Agreste Mansion——

"Wha?" Marien (Marinette/Adrien, in case you forgot, cuz I almost did) sat up blearily. She/he looked around, and found that she/he was in Adrien's room.

"What—" she/he paused. "Is that my voice? What's going on?"

Luckily for everyone, Plagg was completely unconscious on Adrien's desk (he ate too much Camembert), so Marien thought he was a toy.

"That's a cute kitty cat." Marien giggled. "It looks a little like a kwami."

She/he headed towards the bathroom, hoping the mirror held answers to her questions. She/he nearly fell on her/his backside when she/he looked in the mirror (ya know what, I'm just gonna go with they/their from now on, because she/he is too time consuming to type out every time). Marien's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Then they realized that they were staring at Adrien's face. Marien sighed and half smiled. Then smiled more. There was a definite upside to this. Marien let out a lovey dovey sound that resembled a squeal crossed with a sigh.

"Oh, I could get used to this." They froze. "Wait. No, no, no, no, no. I am in his body. I am in his body. I can't believe this. I cannot believe this."

——In the Front Hall——

Kat barged through the front doors, not bothering to knock, with Adrinette in tow. Nathalie and Mr. Agreste stopped in the middle of the main hall, taken aback by the two kids marching towards Adrien's room. Well, one was marching. The other was trying not to fall.

"Kat?"

"It's nothing, Mr. Agreste," Kat called over her shoulder. Mr. Agreste opened his mouth, then closed it again. He figured there was no point in asking. Kat probably just wanted to take Adrien to ruin his diet again.

Kat marched past the adults again, this time with Marien. The three went all the way back to Marinette's house. In Mari's room, they debated over what to do, and exactly what happened. They all concluded that it was an akuma that caused the switch. They couldn't agree on what to do.

"We should just wait for Ladybug."

That was Adrinette. Since Adrien and Marinette didn't know who the other was, they couldn't do that. Kat suggested a different approach.

"Look, guys, I know I'm new to the whole hero thing—" She paused and rolled her eyes at her body switched friends both of whom looked like someone had just swallowed a frog or maye broccoli "—and, yes, you both know, but I can do it, I promise."

"But we can't de-evilize the akumas," Marien said.

"And you won't have any back up," added Adrinette. The two looked at her, concern etched on their features. Kat just about broke down at those looks. But she managed to keep her feelings in check. She took a deep breath and continued talking.

"Guys, whoever was akumatized hasn't made themselves known yet. That means that neither Ladybug nor Chat Noir know who the victim is. I can at least do something without either of them. I can search, and find him or her."

An evil cackling could be heard from outside. The three teenagers gave each other a look.

"Go ahead and change, Kat." Adrinette smiled sadly and sighed. There was nothing they could do, so why not support her? Kat shot them a grateful look.

"I'll be back," she said. She reversed her jacket and stripped her skirt off, and made sure to convert the heels to flats. Kat slipped through the window thing and onto the roof.

Switchblade strolled down the road, blasting people with green and red lasers. Kat watched, analyzing the situation. Red. Red. Green. Green. Out. Out. In. In. Take out two, switch. After two reds, Panther attacked. With all the grace of her namesake, both civilian and superhero, she jumped from the roof. The reinforced thigh-high boots took the force of the landing and she ran at the akumatized victim. This was her favorite part of superheroing. Where Chat and Ladybug made quips, Panther preferred to be silent. She smiled as she felt her bottled up anger disappear with each breath.

Panther was not someone you would think would have pent up emotions, but she was a master emotion bottler. She was ridiculously sensitive a lot of the time, especially when her parents got mad at her (not that happened a lot cuz she was a good child, but still). She would keep the emotions tightly concealed and then let them all out as soon as she was alone. Well, the sad emotions anyway. The angry ones had to be forced out, usually through physical exertion. This is what made chasing villains exciting. The adrenaline coursing through her veins and the constant movement of sprinting dispelled any lingering thoughts about Chloe and Mr. Agreste's (more than slightly) suspicious actions (such as taking them to laser tag).

Switchblade cackled one more time before Panther knocked her out in one punch. Panther winced. It felt like her hand might be sprained. She'd have to reinforce some gloves later. Panther quickly found and pocketed the akumatized object. They'd de-evilize it eventually, but Panther would keep it where she could find it. She dragged Switchblade through some side streets and took to the rooftops as inconspicuously as possible. She circled back to Marinette's house and dropped through the skylight (haha! I found the word I was looking for). Marien and Adrinette started at the sudden appearance of Panther and the akuma victim.

"Where am I?" Switchblade slurred the question.

"Did you hit her on the head?!" Marien and Adrinette exclaimed in unison. Panther nodded as she found some ribbon to tie her up.

"Yup," Panther replied. Switchblade was more awake now, and glaring at Panther. Panther noticed. "Ah, regaining consciousness, are we?"

Switchblade growled.

"Ooh, scary. Listen, hot stuff, I'll make you a deal." Panther inspected her nails as if she wasn't in the presence of a villain. Switchblade raised an eyebrow.

"Count me interested."

"Well, I'll let you go if, and only if, you switch Adrien and Marinette back into their own bodies."

"Deal," Switchblade smirked. Panther slowly untied her. She stayed behind Switchblade, making sure that she would do what was asked of her. The red lasers zapped the two, then the green ones. They laughed in relief as Switchblade vaulted out of the skylight. Adrien and Marinette through their arms around each other. They quickly let go and blushed. Adrien's eyes got really big.

"Father's going to be looking for me!"

"Don't worry, I'll shoot him a text." Kat quickly changed back into 'normal mode' and pulled out her phone. When she turned it on, she found six messages from Nathaniel. "Aw, crap. I was supposed to tell Nathaniel what happened."  
She hurriedly texted Mr. Agreste and then sent Nathaniel a message saying that Marinette's episode was just an allergic reaction to the nail polish they had been using.

"But what about the akuma?" Marinette asked. "It still needs to be caught."

"We'll worry about that in a minute." Kat ushered Adrien to the door. "I know an akuma's still on the loose, but you might wanna get home to your dad. He seems worried."

As much as she hated to do it, Kat had to get Adrien out so Marinette could de-evilize the akuma in her pocket. Once he was gone, she pulled out the hair clip she had snagged from Switchblade. Mari transformed and de-evilized the akuma.

"Well, that was quite an exciting day, wasn't it?"

"It sure was," Marinette giggled. She was very glad she was back in her own body.

"It's a good thing we got that done before you had to use the bathroom," Kat laughed. Marinette turned bright fire truck red.

 **Hey guys! I am so so so sorry this is late! As I said in the previous part, my life got really really busy. It's still gonna be busy what with summer coming, so I will hopefully update often enough to keep you coming back. I hope you all like my writing! If you have any ideas for plots or scenes, let me know and I'll maybe be able to incorporate it. Hope you all have a great day, and keep reading, even if it's just my fanfic. This is also an entire page longer than usual as an apology gift.**


	17. Part 17: Well That Happened

**Part 17: Well That Happened.**

"What if we use metal bars?" Marinette asked. She and Kat were hunched over a large paper covered in sketches of gloves. It had taken a few ideas for Kat to settle on fingerless ones, and now they were trying to figure out how to reinforce them.

"I don't know about that. If the metal's put under enough force it might bend and break my fingers."

"Right. Um...what about…" Marinette sighed. "I don't know."

"Maybe we could just pad them. Like boxer gloves." She pantomimed a boxer and winced. Her hand had, indeed been hurt. A hairline fracture across the middle bone in her hand and she had sprained her wrist, too. (Please note that I have never had worse than a scraped knee, so any portrayal of injury that I may or may not try to write about will not really be completely accurate.)

"That's a great idea!" Marinette paused and looked at Kat's wrist, which was swelling up and purple. "You should get someone to look at your hand."

"I'll be fine."

"Kat, it's purple."

"Ya got me there."

"Are you scared of the hospital or something?"

"Nah, I'm just used to toughing it out. Granted, I've never been hurt quite this bad, but if I don't move it—"

"Come on. I'm taking you to the hospital."

"Fine," Kat sighed, "just let me whip up some tears."

"What? Why?"

"You'll see."

Kat got onto the fifth step up to Mari's bed, forced herself to cry, then jumped down and landed on her feet. The landing created a huge thump.

"Just roll with it," Kat cried. Marinette looked at her in confusion, but decided to roll with it. The two hurried down to the bakery.

"Girls? What was that sound?" Mrs. Dupain-Cheng asked, already at the bottom of the stairs.

"I just tripped and fell on my wrist," Kat sobbed, squeezing her arm a little so that pain leaked into her voice.

"Oh dear! Let's get you to the hospital." Mrs. Dupain-Cheng told her husband that she'd be back, and they left. An hour later, Kat had a cast, Marinette had finished planning Kat's gloves in her head, and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng was having a very, very hard time with the paperwork.

"Kat, have you ever had...here read that...have you ever had that?"

"Nope. I've never even heard of that. I don't think I can even pronounce it."

"What's muscular dystrophy?"

"That's where your muscles like disappear. I think it's mostly in boys," Kat added, "so no, I don't have it."

This went on for a while, and when they got to the family questions (does x disease run in your family?) they just gave up. Kat had a very large family (on her mom's side) and had absolutely no idea on any of it. They took the papers up to the receptionist.

"I'm sorry, I can't accept those," the receptionist said. "You need to fill out everything."

"We don't know everything, ma'am," Mrs. Dupain-Chen's replied.

"Why not?"

"Kat fell out of a…" she looked at Kat.

"A portal, I think," Kat said. The receptionist rolled her eyes.

"That didn't happen. Just fill it out."

"It did happen. One minute I was in my bed, the next I was in a classroom."

"That's not possible," the lady laughed.

"Paris gets attacked by an akumatized villain every other day. I don't think me falling out of a portal is too hard to believe."

The receptionist opened her mouth to reply, but Kat's icy stare made her close it. She took the papers without another word.

——In Mari's Room——

Kat waited patiently for Adrien to pick up on the FaceTime call. When he did, Kat smiled and made sure Marinette and Tikki were both still gone. (They went to deliver a cake to a little girl's birthday party.)

"Hi, ."

"Hey, Cinnabon. Whatcha doing?"

"Not much. It's always boring over here without you."

"Yeah. It's not very boring around here." Kat held up her arm. The neon cast covered from her palm to about halfway down her arm.

"What happened?" Adrien gasped.

"You know when I brought Switchblade in so she'd switch you back?"

"Yeah. You knocked her out."

"And in doing so I sprained my wrist and got a hairline fracture in my hand."

"Does it hurt?"

"Not really. They numbed it up pretty good."

"Pretty well, you mean?"

"I suppose," Kat laughed. "Sometimes I don't grammar good, huh?"

Adrien snickered. A knock came from the phone's little speakers. "Adrien?"

It was Mr. Agreste.

"Hello, Father."

"May I speak with you a minute?"

Adrien gave a small gasp. "You...you're asking if you can speak with me?"

Kat raised an eyebrow. As you know, dear reader, this occurrence was quite out of the ordinary. Adrien glanced at his phone, then placed it in his pocket, making sure he didn't turn it off. Kat's breath hitched. She waited for more talking, butterflies doing an angry dance in her stomach. What would Mr. Agreste do? Was he angry? Apologetic about something he'd done? Happy? Kat dug some chips out of her bag and shoved a bunch in her mouth. She didn't usually stress eat, but she needed something to keep from clenching her teeth.

"How would you like to go to a Jagged Stone concert?"

Kat choked on her chips. "What?"

"I...Yes?" Adrian laughed softly, the sound full of relief.

"Would you like Kat to come?" Mr. Agreste asked. It sounded like he was a tad hopeful. Kat narrowed her eyes, suspicion snaking its way through her mind. What was he thinking? Mr. Agreste continued, "We could bring some of your other friends, too, if you'd like."

"That would be great," Adrien said slowly. Then, a little more enthusiastically, "How many friends?"

"Two, perhaps? Not counting Kat."

"That sounds awesome," Adrien said. Kat couldn't see anything, but she thought she could hear Mr. Agreste's receding footsteps. A second later, Adrien took his phone out of his pocket. "Did you hear that, Kat?"

"Every word," Kat breathed, still trying to take it all in.

"Who should I bring?"

Kat didn't hesitate to answer, "Marinette, of course. Oh, and Nino, cuz he's your best friend."

Kat must have sounded a little sad, because Adrien said, "Aside from you, Kat."

"Aw, you're so sweet," Kat cooed. "And you can have more than one best friend. I have three best friends. Well, at my other home, anyway."

"You must miss them," Adrien smiled sadly.

"Sometimes. But I have you and Nathaniel and Marinette. And I'm writing down everything that happens so I can tell them. I might even make it into fanfiction."

"Fanfiction? What?"

"Yeah. See, all of this is a cartoon...back in my world…" Kat trailed off, not sure if she should continue.

"Wait, so did you know who I was when you got here?"

Kat took a deep breath and admitted, "Yeah. Yeah, I knew. I know a lot more about this world than you or anyone else thinks. I was pretty much obsessed with it. Not only this show, though. I also like Gravity Falls, Doctor Who, Sherlock, and quite an assortment of others."

"Do you know who Ladybug is?" Adrien asked, his eyes widening in eagerness.

"Yes. But I can't tell you." A small sound alerted Kat to the presence of someone in the room. "I gotta go, Cinnabon, talk to you later."

Kat hung up and turned around to see a slack jawed Marinette and Tikki.


	18. Part 18

**Part 18: Kat's Reveal**

 **Note: As always this is super super late and I am so so so sorry! I try to get it all done, but between my other (original) stories that I'm working on and my mother trying to get me to be more active, and writer's block, I have a strangely small amount of time to write. Once again, I am so so so sorry.**

"You-you...I trusted you!"

"Marinette, calm down." Kat panted nervously. This was going to be tricky.

"I can't calm down! You told Adrien you know who Ladybug is!"

"Well, he asked, and I don't like lying to him about things like that. I won't tell him who you are, but I'm not going to deny knowing you."

"But what...why would you…?" Marinette trailed off, all questions dying before they're finished.

"Marinette, just listen a minute, please."

Marinette took a deep breath and swallowed. She nodded for Kat to go on.

"All right. Now, I don't know how much of that you heard, so I'll be brief. I'm not actually from this world, that much everyone kind of figured out already. I knew you were Ladybug, and who Chat Noir was, but I didn't know exactly how much I should say, or what I should do. That's why I said I saw you transform when you got back in the middle of the night."

"You didn't actually see me?"

"Well, not in person, no."

"So you lied."

"Look, I didn't want to freak you out or anything. And I only half lied. I've seen you transform like a hundred times, it was just on TV. I'm sorry."

"Ok. Ok, that's fine." Marinette took a few deep, shaky breaths. "Ok, I can handle that. You just didn't want to freak me out."

Kat just sat and let Marinette mutter to herself. Eventually, Marinette rationalized everything herself and nodded.

"Thank you for telling me, Kat. I forgive you for lying to me, and I'm glad you told me."

"I'm glad I did, too. Truth be told, it was hard to keep it from you. I've always believed that honesty is the best policy, even if it's only honesty between two people, like with your identity."

"It guess it does help to have a friend."

Kat beamed and Marinette couldn't help but return the smile. Kat laughed.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I'm pretty sure I scored you a spot with Adrien. His dad's taking him to a Jagged Stone concert and asked me who he should bring."

——At the Agreste Mansion——

"She knows who Ladybug is, Plagg!" Adrien flopped down on his bed, grinning from ear to ear. "Do you think she'd set me up on a date? Who do you think she is?"

"I don't know," Plagg said. Plagg, of course, already knew who Ladybug was.

"Plagg, what if she doesn't like me? What if—"

"She'll like you just fine," Plagg interrupted. "Can I have some Camembert?"

Adrien sighed and dug a little tin of it out of his desk.

"You know, Plagg, it would really help if I knew her."

"You do know her."

"What?" Adrien gasped, eyes wide.

"You fight akumas with her all the time."

"That's different."

"How is it different? She might be little different in real life, but it's still her deep down. You just gotta trust her. Let her be her, and when she's ready, she'll reveal herself."

"That's...a really nice thing to say. And pretty smart."

"Thanks. Kat and I have been watching Hannah Montana together. I think about it a lot and thought it would apply."

"So those were just your thoughts on Hannah Montana."

"Yep." Plagg grinned as he downed the last of the cheese. "I'm going to take a nap."

Adrien rolled his eyes, rolled over, and opened a magazine. He closed it again, because every other picture was of him. He sighed.

"At least I get to go to a Jagged Stone concert."

——The Next Monday, at School——

"What happened to your arm?" Nathaniel gasped, brows furrowed, worry in his voice.

"It's fine, Nathaniel," Kat smiled. "I just...landed on it."

Nathaniel frowned. He could tell she was lying, and it kind of hurt. He knew she wouldn't tell him everything, but he wished she'd be a little more open.

Kat felt horrible. Nathaniel was one of her favorite people in the world, and she couldn't tell him anything. Her heart ached with sadness.

The two took their seats. Kat smiled as she saw Adrien turned around in his seat, talking to Marinette. She smiled bigger when she saw the look on Chloe's face. Chloe looked like a constipated hippo. Marinette, on the other hand, looked like she was going to faint. Kat shook her head. If only she could get those two together. They were absolutely adorable together.

Ms. Bustier began the lesson. Guilt was eating Kat up, and she just could not focus. She groaned quietly and put her head down on the desk. Nathaniel glanced at her. He felt like he should do something, but what? An idea popped into his head. He took out a pen, one that washed off easily, pushed his jacket sleeve up, and tapped Kat on the shoulder. Kat looked up. Nathaniel motioned to his arm with the pen, then held it out. Kat smiled. Nathaniel was so sweet. She took the pen and doodled on his left arm while he took notes with his right. It was a bit too tricky with her cast on her right hand, so she switched to her left. Kat was not left-handed at all, and the doodles were horrible, but it helped her feel a little better.

Ms. Bustier noticed and smiled. She couldn't help but like when people helped each other feel better, and Kat had looked very upset that morning.

——In a Park at a Wishing Well——

Ten year old Elijah Martin sat on the edge of the wishing well, thinking about home. His parents had sent him to his aunt's house for two weeks while they solidified their divorce. He sniffed. Why couldn't they have worked it out? Elijah took out a fifty cent piece from his pocket. His grandmother had given it to him, and said that if he wished with all his might, his wish would come true when he tossed it in a wishing well. If there was ever a time he needed it, it was now.

Elijah breathed in deeply, held his breath, and tossed it. The next thing he did was run home. He sat by his phone rubbing his fingers on his mother's necklace that she had given him, waiting for his parents to call. The longer he waited, the more hope he lost.

——Cue Hawkmoth——

As always, "oh the emotions, go akuma, etc". The akuma departed and found the child crying in his room. The akuma landed on the necklace.

"Hello, Wish," Hawkmoth said. "I have given you the ability to grant any wish, including your own. Bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous, and you shall never again want for anything."

"Yes, Hawkmoth."

——Back at the School——

Kim leaned back in his seat.

"I wish I could just go home," he said.

"Your wish is my command," came a reply. Kim disappeared. The students all gasped as a misty, ghostlike figure appeared. "Hello, everyone! I'm Wish, here to make all your heart's desires come true!"

Kat's eyes widened. All together, she, Marinette, and Adrien left. Other students followed suit, all of them running this way and that. Most ran out the front doors and headed for home. Nathaniel was one of the ones that stayed. He followed the three heroes into the locker room, hoping that Wish wouldn't be able to find them in there. Marinette and Adrien ran for the bathrooms, while Kat began changing in the locker room. Nathaniel came in a few moments later, and stopped in his tracks. Kat had already taken off her skirt, overshirt, reversed her jacket, and was smearing paint over her eyes. She froze.

"Er, um, hi."

"Kat?"

"Uh, no?"

Nathaniel leaned heavily on the lockers.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Nothing." Panther put the paint back in her locker without looking.

"So you've been keeping this from me?"

"I wanted to tell you, really I did—"

Nathaniel held up a hand. Panther stopped talking.

"Please don't try to explain anything. I know you couldn't tell me something, and I understand why. You don't need to feel bad about it either. This is how you hurt your hand, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Panther replied. Nathaniel took the paint out of her locker again.

"You might want to cover up your cast," he said, smiling softly.

"Oh, oh, yeah." Panther looked down at her cast, then at the paint. "Actually, do you have any duct tape or something? That'd probably work better, and I'd be able to change it back to its original color."

Nathaniel went to his locker and dug through it. He pulled out some black duct tape.

"That'll work," Panther grinned. "Thanks."

"No problem," Nathaniel murmured while he watched Panther wrap the cast. She handed it back when she was done and stood there awkwardly. Nathaniel nodded to the door. "You should probably go."

"Yeah." Panther shifted from side to side before leaning forward and placing a quick peck on Nathaniel's cheek. "I really do like you, you know."

And with that, she left, leaving a shocked Nathaniel touching his cheek and smiling.

 **Once again, sorry for the lateness. So, um, do you guys like NathanielxKat? Cuz I kinda sorta really do. Leave your thoughts in the comments please :)**


	19. Part 19

**Part 19: Wishes, Fixes, and Kats**

 **Note: Hey guys, I hope you like this!**

"Hey, Wish," Chat shouted, "I wish you would stop!"

"Never!" Wish wailed. "I wish Chat Noir would be stuck where he is!"

A blue flash hit Chat in the chest. He moved to run, but his feet stuck to the road. He frowned.

"I hope no cars come along," he muttered.

Ladybug was trying to reason with Wish when Panther showed up. She looked from Chat to Ladybug to Wish, trying to form a plan. A well placed punch, she thought, could almost...no, I won't punch a kid this young. He's like what, six? Panther pursed her lips. She noticed the necklace around his neck, floating gently in front of him. If she had to guess, that was where the akuma was. Of course, as you know already, she was right. Panther snuck around and hid behind a car near Ladybug.

"Psst." Panther tried to get Ladybug's attention. She whisper-shouted, "Hey! Ladybug!"

Ladybug glanced over. She waited for a blue flash and flipped behind the car.

"Kat! I mean Panther. What are you doing here? Your arm…"

"It's fine. I'm not going to be punching anything today, especially not this kid."

"You had no problem punching the last one."

"Yeah, but she was our age. I don't like hitting people that much younger than me."

Ladybug sighed. There was no keeping Panther out of hero work.

"So, do you have a plan then, Panther? I do, but it needs Chat Noir, and he can't move right now."

"Distract Wish, and I'll sneak around and grab the necklace."

"Got it."

Ladybug darted out, used her lucky charm, and distracted Wish by shining the little make-up mirror in his eyes. Panther snuck around, as planned, and reached for the necklace. But Wish sensed her. He whipped around and batted her out of the way. She landed with an oof! Chat gasped and reached out for her.

"Ka...uh, Panther!"

"Stay away!" Wish screamed.

"Wish!" Panther yelled, then groaned. She was going to have a nasty bruise on her back. Wish glared at her.

"What do you want?"

"I want to know what you want."

Wish blinked. No one ever asked what he wanted.

"I want Mommy and Daddy to come back, both of them," he cried. He looked around with teary eyes.

Hawkmoth made an 'oh, crap' face and struggled to get back in control.

"You can have anything you want," he said, "just get me their miraculous!"

"Hey, Wish? What's your real name?" Panther asked.

"Elijah," he sniffed.

"Well, Elijah, I think I can help you out. Just give Ladybug your necklace, please. I promise you'll get it back."

"No!" Hawkmoth clenched his fists. "Bring me the miraculous!"

Elijah lifted his necklace off and held it out. Ladybug took it, and de-evilized it. Hawkmoth growled in frustration. Panther picked up the necklace and crouched down next to Elijah, who still had tears in his eyes.

"Here," she said, handing over the necklace.

"I didn't get my wish," Elijah whimpered. Panther placed an arm around him.

"Well, sometimes we don't get what we wish for, no matter how much we want it. But you can't let that upset you."

"But it's my fault! It's my fault Mommy's going away."

Panther's mouth made an o.

"Oh, you're parents are getting divorced."

"Yeah." Elijah's little bottom lip stuck out.

"I can tell you right now, it won't be too bad. My parents, well, they didn't get divorced, but my mom mostly lives with her sister now. I used to think it was my fault, just like you, but it wasn't. And it's not your fault either."

Chat Noir crouched next to Panther and took a turn speaking.

"It's okay if you miss your mom, but she'll still be there," he said. He smiled sadly at Kat. She sadly smiled back.

Just then, a herd of reporters rushed up to the four.

"Hi, I'm Nadja Chamak, at the scene of the latest akuma attack." Nadja pointed the microphone towards Elijah. "What turned you? Why were you so upset? And Ladybug, what's it like fighting such a young child? And who is this new hero?"

Elijah's head bobbed all over the place, and his breath came in gasps. Panther helped him up and kept him behind her back.

"That's enough," she ordered. "You're making him nervous. And as for all of your questions, negative emotions are what Hawkmoth used to target him. Why he felt so bad is none of yours or anyone else's business. Ladybug can tell you what it's like to fight a child, and I am Panther."

"What superpowers do you have?" One reporter asked.

"None," Panther replied with a smirk. "Though I do have extensive martial arts training, and specialized...equipment, such as my boots. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a kid to take home."

Panther pushed her way through the throng, keeping Elijah close. Chat followed close behind.

"May I escort you, my super kitty companion?"

"Haha, of course, hon."

Chat used his staff to help Panther get Elijah get home. This left Ladybug to fend off the press.

"Ladybug, Ladybug! How do you feel about the new hero?"

"Has Chat Noir moved on?"

"Why has Panther appeared?"

"One at a time, please," Ladybug chuckled. "Um, lets see. I like Panther. She's very good at helping people."

"Does Chat Noir have feelings for her?"

"I don't know, you'll have to ask him. Listen, I'm really sorry, but I need to go."

She yo-yo-ed off, de-transformed, and made her way back to class.

Meanwhile, Panther and Chat Noir dropped Elijah off at his aunt's house. Panther had Chat Noir go and play with Elijah while she talked to Elijah's aunt.

"Thank you so much for bringing Elijah back to me. I'm Mary, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Mary," Panther replied. "Listen, do you think you could maybe talk to his parents? He thinks it's his fault they're divorcing."

"What? How did you know that?"

"Elijah told me. Don't worry, I'm not going to say anything. I'd just like to help him out a little. Maybe have his parents explain why they're getting a divorce, and make sure he knows how much his parents love him. I've got a pretty good idea of how much it hurts. Maybe take him out for ice cream or something, too."

"All right," Mary said, nodding. Panther motioned to Chat, they said goodbye, and made their way back to the school.

Adrien covered for Kat while she took off the makeup, put her clothes right, and came back to class. In class, Nathaniel grinned when she sat down.  
"What?"

"Oh, nothing," Nathaniel replied. He slid a piece of paper to her. "Just this."

Kat opened it to find a drawing of Panther. She gasped. It was masterful, and he had made her look absolutely amazing. She giggled shyly, a half grin on her face.

"I love it," Kat said. Nathaniel blushed and smiled back at her.

 **Btw, I'm going to be updating the timeline through season 2 episode 17 (Reverser) because I just watched it and it was absolutely adorable and I love it. Plus, I get a new character for Kat to interact with. Hope you look forward to reading it as much as I look forward to writing it!**


	20. Part 20

**Part 20: Kats and Creativity**

 **Note: Now, dear readers, I know that we've got a new character and new ships and whatnot, but I've been shipping Nathaniel with Kat since I started this, so I'm sticking with it unless Kat decides otherwise (and no I am not crazy, I just sometimes pretend fictional characters are real. It helps with planning). Plus...well, you'll see ;)**

Okay, so I'm going to start this out with just a little prologue:

I don't know how much time it took between these episodes in the show, but I'm going to assume it was a few weeks, and just to make everything easy, let's just assume that Kat sat out of hero work for a while to let her arm heal. It was difficult, and sometimes nerve racking, but she got through it. The only reason she didn't ignore Adrien and Marinette's suggestion to let her arm heal was because they got Nathaniel to keep her entertained. She and Nathaniel had quite the art party, Kat is now ambidextrous with art and weapons, and Nathaniel got her into the art club/class thing.

——More or Less After the Events from Glaciator to Reverser——

Kat thoroughly enjoyed art club (I googled it, and it is indeed a club). She loved going in and writing sometimes when Nathaniel painted, or she'd draw with him. They had made an impressive dragon using charcoal and sharpie during the last few days, and had just finished the day before.

Today, Kat was fine with laying under a table (which was amazingly gum-free) and writing to her heart's content. She had a few stories in the works, and a whole lot of ideas. She only looked up when Marc came in the room.

Kat watched, interested in what was going on. When Marc ran from the room, she nearly followed, but didn't because Marinette had gone after him. She felt like he was in good enough hands, and eagerly got back to working on her story.

——Later, at the Dupain-Chengs——

Kat pursed her lips in concentration. She repeated each punch, each kick, everything, over and over again. Adrien had just left for fencing practice, she knew, and Marinette was up on the roof watching a little meeting she had set up. A minute later, Mari sprinted down and out the door. A little bell went off in Kat's head, but she silenced it, figuring that Mari could handle herself.

After a while, Kat took a break and checked the news. Reverser was attacking, so she hurriedly changed. She didn't get to the actual fight, though, because she had to stop a certain police officer from beating up another officer.

Finally, they stopped fighting and went home. She had a horrible feeling that she knew the Reverser, and when Marinette got back, she found out she was sort of right.

"Okay, so that was Marc from art club then?"

"Yeah. I felt bad, but he and Nathaniel aren't mad at me, so I guess it's okay. And look, they made a comic book together." Marinette handed Kat the book. Kat smiled.

"That's so cute! I love this. The story line's awesome, Nathaniel's art is amazing, the word choice…" Kat trailed off, realizing that she had found a kindred spirit in Marc. She turned to Marinette. "I'm going to make him my friend. I'll introduce myself tomorrow at art club."  
"That's a great idea, Kat. Maybe you can write something with them, too."

"Oh, I would love that." Kat gave the comic book back to Marinette, and sighed contentedly. Tomorrow was gonna be awesome.

——The Next Day at Art Club——

It didn't go quite as she planned. In fact, it didn't go at all how she planned. When she introduced herself, Nathaniel thought she was flirting with Marc, and Marc seemed a little put off by her. In addition to that, she bumped into an empty easel, which set off a strange, yet impressive, set of events that ended with three people, including Marc, being covered in paint. Kat apologized, eyes wide.

"I am so sorry, Marc, Alix! I'm so so so sorry!"

"No worries," chuckled Alix after inspecting her own artwork. "No harm done."

"My-my notebook," Marc stuttered. The bottom quarter of the book was soaked in bright pink paint. Kat gasped, and immediately felt horrible. She knew how much a writer's notebook could mean to them.

"I-I...Marc?" Kat's voice broke as Marc dropped his notebook and ran from the room for the second time in as many days. Tears started to roll down Kat's cheeks as she picked up the ruined notebook. Marinette put her arm around her paint spattered friend.

"It'll be alright, Kat. You'll see."

"I didn't mean to," Kat cried. Nathaniel held out a tissue to her. Even if he was a bit peeved because he thought she was flirting with another guy, he still liked her. She took the tissue. Marinette patted her shoulder.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up, and take you home. You'll feel better after a nap."

Clean close, a good amount of crying, and a nap later, Kat woke up feeling much better. The only problem was that it was now five in the morning. Her nap had turned into a full night of sleep. Marinette softly snored in her own bed. Kat sighed and got up after trying to go back to sleep and failing.

She ended up downstairs, feeling miserable again, but channeled her misery into helping Marinette's parents prepare the food for the day. Mrs. Dupain-Cheng noticed Kat's mood.

"What's wrong, Kat?" She asked.

"I messed up really badly yesterday. I want to fix it, but I don't know if Marc will even want me to."

"Who's Marc? And what happened to Nathaniel? I thought you liked him."

"I do. But he thinks I was flirting with Marc. Marc is just someone I wanted to be friends with, but I messed up big time. I covered him in paint, ruined his notebook, and I know how much a notebook can mean to a writer. I'm...I'm a writer, too. I started when my mom first left for her sister's. Mostly, I write sci-fi, or fantasy, and a little, er, creative twisting of already existing literature."

"What was that last one?"

"Fanfiction. I write fanfiction."

"Oh, that's nice. So what will you do about your little situation?"

"I don't know," Kat said miserably.

"I know what you can do," Mr. Dupain-Cheng interjected, holding a bowl of dough. "Make some treats, apologize, and all will be fixed when they taste your delicious chocolate chip cookies."

"That sounds good," Kat laughed. She spent the rest of the morning baking, and left a half an hour early to get a few more things. Mrs. Dupain-Cheng gave her thirty dollars for it all.

——At School——

"Hi, Nathaniel," Kat chirped.

"Hi, Kat," Nathaniel replied, barely giving her a glance.

"Listen, I know you thought I was flirting with Marc yesterday, and I promise I wasn't. I just wanted to make friends. Marinette told me he was a writer too, and showed me the comic book you guys made, and I just loved it. I wanted to have friend I could maybe collaborate a story with. And I wanted to support him a little. He seemed really nervous about his writing the other day, and then he was akumatized. You know how much I like supporting people. Anyway, I just wanted to apologize. Here." Kat gave him the little bundle in her arms. Nathaniel opened it, gasped, and a smile plastered itself on his face. "Your favorite donuts, some new sketch markers, and a new sketchbook."

"You got these for me?"

"Yeah. I've also got a couple things for Marc, 'cause I feel really bad about what I did."

"It wasn't your fault, Kat."

"Yes, it was. And I'm going to own up to it. Would you make sure Marc is at art club today?"

"Sure."

"And by the way," Kat added as she sat down, "I really wasn't flirting with Marc. I think—I hope—that our relationship will be sort of like what Adrien and I have. Or just friends, if Marc doesn't want to be that close."

"I'm sure it'll be great," Nathaniel smiled, holding Kat's hand under the table.

——After School at Art Club——

Marc timidly walked into the art room with Nathaniel. He looked around at the students doing various art projects. Most of them stopped when they noticed him. He shrunk beneath their curious gazes. He finally looked to his right, where Kat was standing just as timidly.

"Hi, Marc," she said quietly. "Listen, I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday. It was all my fault. I didn't let myself get enough sleep, which made me really clumsy and maybe a little more intense than I should have been. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, and I definitely didn't mean to ruin your notebook. I know how much that notebook meant to you because I have at least eight notebooks full of ideas and stories and whatnot, and I would cry my eyes out if even one of them was ruined. And I know how hard it is to share your writing with others, so I tried to omit everything from memory."

"Wait, what? What do you mean?"

"Well, I sort of...well, here."

Kat gave him the wrapped box that was on the table next to her. He opened it to find three notebooks, a mechanical pencil, and a pen. Marc took the notebooks out and laid them side by side on the table. The first, still covered in bright pink paint, was his original notebook. The next notebook was covered in hand drawn designs, and a little square of paper labelled, "From the Mind of the Creative Marc Anciel". The third was similar to the second, but with different designs.

"Open the middle one," Kat said gently. Marc did. He gasped. "I did what I could. I don't know how accurate it is, because the bottom half of most of the pages was covered in paint, but I tried to copy it down word for word. The last notebook is just an extra one, for when you fill that one up. And the mechanical pencil in there is my favorite one. It's brought me a lot of good luck with writing, and maybe it will give you the same good luck. And the same goes for the pen. Can you forgive me?"

Kat stopped talking and waited. Marc stared at the notebooks, then looked up at Kat, then his gaze went back to the notebooks. Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Kat, Marc's face lit up and he threw his arms around her.

"Thank you!" He whispered. "Thank you so much!"

"It's the least I could do," Kat smiled as she pulled away.

Nathaniel elbowed Marc.

"You know, Marc," he said, "Kat is pretty good at art and writing. Do you think we could make a story with her?"

"That would be awesome," Marc replied, grinning from ear to ear. Kat grinned back. Their classmates cheered, and the three of them blushed.

"I didn't mean to make such a spectacle," Kat said quietly. "Sorry."

"It's all right," the boys said. The applause of the class died down and everyone went back to their projects, as did Kat and her boys.

"So you read all of my notebook, right?" Marc asked as they worked.

"Yeah," Kat replied sheepishly.

"So…"Marc shifted uncomfortably. "...What did you think?"

"What did I think? It's brilliant! I hung on your every word! You're a brilliant writer, and with a little more practice and a little editing, you'll be the best. Everything you wrote was just amazing. I would not only read what you wrote, but I'd watch a movie of it, read fanfiction for it, and write fanfiction for it! Though, I don't know if I'd be able to do it justice, but I'd try."

"Wow, thanks." Marc blushed. Kat playfully punched him in the arm.

"You're going to go far, hon. And Nathaniel and I will help you."

Marc smiled. He was beginning to think he'd found a kindred soul.

 **So, I hope you guys liked this. Please let me know what you thought :) And do my dear readers like being called dear readers? Cuz as a writer I love calling my readers 'my dear readers' because you guys are just amazing. As you know, this is my twentieth part of a continuing fanfic, and I just wanted to give you guys a shout-out for sticking with me for this long. (BTW, 'you guys' is just my way of saying things like 'y'all' and stuff like that. Sorry if that's a little annoying.) I know I'm bad at updating regularly, and I know it's hard waiting, but thank you so so so much for reading and putting up with my procrastination/forgetfulness. You guys are all just so great and I can't thank you enough, my dear readers.**


	21. Part 21: Let’s Rock’n’Roll

**Part 21: Let's Rock'n'Roll**

 **Note: I have never been to a live concert, so I have no idea if 7:00 is a normal time to start or not, but I'm going with it. Also, sorry this took so long. School started and I've had tennis practice, so I've been busy.**

——The Day of that Jagged Stone Concert I Talked About in Part 18 and Have Taken a Really Long Time to Get Back to——

Marinette paced in her room, extremely nervous about the coming night. It was Friday, and Kat was at Marc's while waiting for the concert. Tikki had tried a million different tactics to calm Marinette down, but none of them worked for long.

At 5:00, Kat showed up out of nowhere. Marinette had turned, walked towards the wall, turned back around, and jumped because Kat was in the doorway, holding three boxes. Kat grinned.

"Nervous much, Mari?"

"I guess you could say that," Marinette replied sheepishly. A deep pink colored Marinette's cheeks. Kat chuckled and had Marinette sit down.

"Maybe this will help." Kat pulled out a see-through overskirt out of the first box and placed it between them. She took the second of the boxes she had, a shoebox full of fabric paint, and placed it next to the skirt. Kat explained, "You can doodle or put a design or whatever on it."

"Thanks, but what am I supposed to do with just an overskirt?"

"You'll see," said Kat with a mysterious smile.

The two of them spent the better part of the hour talking while Mari made the overskirt look magnificent. Most of what they talked about was how cute their crushes were, and then about how lucky it was that Nathaniel liked Kat back.

"Don't you worry, Mari," Kat said, "he'll figure out that you're meant for each other eventually. And if he doesn't, I'll figure it out for him. We're still technically kids, so don't worry too much if it takes him a while. You've got the rest of your lives."

Marinette smiled. Kat's words weren't quite what she wanted to hear, but they were comforting nonetheless. The two continued talking about the upcoming concert and making little designs on the overskirt. When it was finished, Kat pulled out a beautiful light pink dress (a shade lighter than Mari's pants). It was a casual dress, but would still make Marinette the belle of the ball. Mari's face lit up. The sweetheart collar finely complemented the skinny waist. Kat grinned.  
"Go put it on," Kat said. Mari did, and when she came back, Kat attached the overskirt. "Ah, truly, the most beautiful of them all."

Marinette and Kat shared a smile.

——At the Agreste Mansion——

While Kat and Marinette were being creative, Adrien was excitedly getting ready.

"This is gonna be awesome, Plagg!"

"How awesome could a concert with your dad be? He'll probably put everybody to sleep."

"Oh, come on Plagg, it won't be that bad. It'll be fun."

"Somehow I doubt that."

Adrien rolled his eyes. He sighed and checked his phone. Still another hour and fifteen minutes. Frantic knocking came from his bedroom door.

"Adrien?" Came Nathalie's voice. "Adrien, you have a photo shoot right now, you need to go!"

Adrien opened his door, his brows furrowed.

"But the concert is tonight, Nathalie."

"Yes, well, you might be a little late. I'm sure it'll be fine. Now, come on, we're late."

Just then, Mr. Agreste came down the hall.

"Adrien, now," he commanded.

"But, Father, the concert—" Adrien's expression was one of hurt.

"Will have to wait. I've got a shoot lined up with a very prestigious photographer."

"Father, please," Adrien whispered. His bottom lip quivered.

"We're leaving now." Mr. Agreste's voice took on an edge.

"But Father—"

"You will do as you're told!" Mr. Agreste yelled, his hand cocked back as if to strike. Adrien screwed his eyes shut and shrunk back, preparing for the blow. Nathalie watched helplessly from the sidelines. Something swam around in Mr. Agreste's eyes, something he hadn't felt in a long time. Guilt. He lowered his hand. Adrien looked up and gasped softly. "I'm...sorry, Adrien."

"It's, well, I, er, it's all right, Father." As Adrien stood there blinking in confusion, Mr. Agreste smiled.

"I'll reschedule with Armando. Let's go to the concert."

Adrien took in an excited breath and leapt at Mr. Agreste. He threw his arms around him.

"Thank you Father! Thank you!"

Mr. Agreste's usual scowl softened. He didn't consciously admit it, but acting like a father, a real father, made him feel good. And truth be told, he hadn't felt like this since Adrien was little.

——At the Concert——

"Kat, over here!" Adrien waved at his pretend sister. She excitedly waved back. Adrien watched as a look of realization passed over her features and she disappeared not the crowd again. She quickly re-emerged with Marinette. Adrien gasped. The tightly fitted dress complemented Marinette's petite frame. (And yes, I know I've already said that the dress compliments Mari, I just want to emphasize it.) Adrien stared at the blushing Marinette. He stuttered out a greeting and asked her to sit down. Mr. Argreste, who was sitting next to Adrien raised an eyebrow. Kat smirked. She knew it would work. Maybe if she could get Mari to say more than a few words in front of him, they'd start to fall in love.

"But I shouldn't get ahead of myself," Kat whispered under the roar of the crowd. Now all that was left to do was to lure Mr. Agreste away to give them some room. It would have been even harder if Nino had come, but he had already planned a date with Alya. Which Kat thought was adorable.

Anyway, back to what was actually happening. Mr. Agreste thought the dress was exquisite, though didn't say it. Adrien thought Marinette was exquisite, though he didn't say it. The three kids chatted while they waited for the next song to start. Well, sort of.

"That song was awesome!" Kat said over the deafening cheers.

"Yeah, it was!" Adrien replied. Kat nudged Marinette.

"What did you think of it Mari?"

"I loved it," she said shyly, just loud enough to be heard. Unfortunately for them all, Chloé happened to be there.

"Adrikins!" She through her arms around Adrien and he leaned back. He didn't want to be mean, since she was his first friend, but he really didn't want to deal with her right then. He mouthed the word 'help' to Kat, and she jumped up.

"Hey, Chloé, what's up?" Kat fake smiled. She put her arm around the bully's shoulders and dragged her away. "Let's just talk, me and you."

Mr. Agreste waited a minute, and then followed, his curiosity getting the better of him. He wanted to know what Kat was doing. When they reached the snack place, Chloé angrily pulled away. Mr. Agreste stood off to the side.

"What do you think you're doing?" Chloe exclaimed. "You can't keep me away from Adrien!"

"I can and will," Kat countered.

"A piece of trash like you? Ha! You've got less upper body strength than a noodle! And you're ugly! You're hair is atrocious, your clothes are even worse, and you will never have a boyfriend!"

"Actually," a certain red headed individual timidly interjected, "she does have a boyfriend."

Kat looked to her left and smiled. Nathaniel sheepishly smiled back, holding one arm self-consciously.

"I mean, if you want to be my girlfriend."

"I'd love to, my little tomato." Kat slid an arm around Nathaniel's waist.

"Oh, puh-lease. You're both ridiculous. It's not like it'll last. You're not pretty enough."

"I don't think any of this is called for, Miss Bourgeois," Mr. Agreste intervened. Three pairs of eyebrows raised in surprise.

"This gremlin pulled me away when I was talking to your son."

"Is this true, Kat?"

Kat walked closer and lowered her voice.

"Adrien mouthed 'help' to me while she was hugging him. He seemed really uncomfortable." Kat took a few steps back to Nathaniel.

"Ah. Miss Burgeois, please leave my son alone for the rest of tonight."

"What?" Chloé screeched. She whirled around. "This is all your fault! You, you, you horrible little peasant!"

"Sticks and stones, Chloé," Kat said, shaking her head.

"And your boyfriend is nothing but a stupid little artist!"

Nathaniel shrank into himself, and Kat growled. Chloe smirked, thinking she had won. But she didn't count on Kat. The corner of Mr. Agreste's mouth lifted a bit as Kat took two steps forward and punched Chloe as hard as she could.

"No one talks about my boyfriend that way! He's not a stupid little artist, he's a brilliant, talented, cute, artist who's got more creativity in his pinky finger than you have in your whole body!"

Mr. Agreste smiled. He quietly muttered, "I'm proud of her."

Kat glanced up at Mr. Agreste and shared his smile.


	22. Part 22: A Little Nudge

Part 22: A Little Nudge

Note: Man I've been busy. I decided to do the school musical, which means I have absolutely no time to do anything on Tuesday through Thursday, so sorry I take so long. Other than that, I just want to say have a great day and please enjoy the following part.

——Still at the Concert——

While the Chloe fiasco was going down, Marinette and Adrien were both sitting awkwardly by each other. Well, Marinette was. Adrien kept sneaking glances at Mari. They mostly just sat, until Adrien tried to talk with Marinette. It was a short conversation. Marinette was so nervous she barely managed to nod, and Adrien was having trouble speaking over the roar of the crowd.

Luckily for them, a very disheveled Kat came back followed by Nathaniel and an equally disheveled Chloe.

"What were you two doing?" Adrien asked, eyebrows raised. Kat smirked.

"Stuff."

"She pushed me down the stairs!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Well, you punched me."

"After you punched me!"

"You called Nathaniel stupid. There is no excuse for that."

"Well he is!"

Kat just about started punching again, but Mr. Agreste appeared behind her (still laughing) and held her arm back so she wouldn't cause a scene.

"I think that's quite enough, Kat," he chuckled. Adrien looked at his father curiously. Was that a smile? Adrien almost laughed with him out of delight. His father was smiling. It had been quite a long time since Adrien had seen him smile. Best of all, it was because of Kat. It meant his father liked her more than he let on.

"But Mr. Agreste," Kat whined.

"This is a problem for another time. If you want, I'll set up a sparring match and you can fight as long as you want."

"Oh, would you?" Kat gushed. Maybe Mr.Agreste really wasn't as bad as she thought. "Oh, that would be just delightful!"

"I, um, I think I'm, I think I'm good," Chloe stuttered before disappearing into the crowd. Kat grinned a huge grin as she took her place between Adrien and Mr. Agreste. Adrien actually moved down a seat so Nathaniel could sit with Kat.

——After the Concert——

The concert had ended with a stunning finale where t-shirts rained down from the heavens (really it was just three guys, all named Frank, throwing them from the rafters). Mr. Agreste was the only one to catch one, which he gladly handed off down the line until it got to Marinette. (And yes, that means Adrien let her have it instead of keeping it for himself.)

After all of that, Nathaniel and Kat had to part ways. There was plenty of mock weeping to go around, mostly from Kat because she liked to be melodramatic sometimes.

Finally, Kat said goodbye to Adrien and Mr. Agreste and headed towards Marinette's. She texted Alya on the way, and when they got there, both she and Alya enjoyed asking Marinette quite a few questions.

"So, girl, how was it sitting next to Adrien?"

"Did you talk to him, hon?"

"Ooh, did you get a kiss?"

With each question Mari blushed harder and harder.

"Nothing happened!" She finally exclaimed. Her friends frowned in sympathy.

"Maybe next time, hon," Kat smiled.

"You've gotta learn to talk Marinette. Express yourself!"

"I can't do it without stumbling over every word, though. I'm so pathetic," Marinette groaned, heavily dropping her head onto her desk.

"Aw, you're not pathetic, Mari, you're just…" Kat searched for the right word. "...inexperienced."

"I messed up everything."

"It'll be alright Marinette. You'll get it eventually," Alya said.

"I hope so," Marinette replied.

Kat sat thoughtfully as Marinette and Alya continued talking. An idea was beginning to form. Perhaps there was a way to let Marinette speak to Adrien in person without actually speaking.

——The Next Monday——

"That's not going to work Kat!"

"Of course it will, Mari! Just be positive about it."

"Kat, I can't form a sentence when I'm near him."

"Just tell me what you want to say beforehand then."

"I'm telling you, it won't work."

"C'mon, give it a shot, please?" Kat pleaded. Marinette sighed.

"All right. I'll do it."

"Oh, yay!" Kat threw her arms around her friend. Marinette pursed her lips. She really didn't think it'd work.

When they reached the school, Kat waved to Adrien.

"All right Mari, now's the time," Kat said out of the side of her mouth.

"I can't do this," Mari repeated over and over in a quiet, shrill voice.

"You can do this, you can do this." Kat linked arms with her.

"Hi guys," Adrien smiled. "What's up?"

"Oh, not much," Kat replied. She jabbed Marinette with her elbow.

"Uh, hi," she managed to say.

"Are you ready for the history presentation coming up, Marinette?"

"Uh, yeah, great! It'll-I'm sure-Uh-great…"

Adrien gave her a confused look. Kat jabbed her again. Mari turned and whispered to Kat.

"She says that her presentation will be great, but probably not as great as yours."

"Well that's nice of you to say Marinette." Adrien grinned. Mari whispered to Kat again.

"She says she thinks you're cute."

"What?" Marinette gasped. She turned bright red. "I-I didn't say that, I mean, it's not that you're not cute—"

Kat interrupted with a laugh. "I'm just kidding, guys. She didn't actually say that. Though, I do believe it's true."

"Kaaat!"

Marinette felt a bit betrayed. Kat shouldn't have said that!

"Uh, okay then." Adrien looked between the girls. "Did you mean cute or cute cute?"

"I meant cute like a kitten, hon, but I think Mari might want to explain with her own definition of cute."

"Uh, I, uh, well...I think you're very… nice looking."

"Thanks?"

"She means attractive. She thinks you're attractive."

"Okay. I...don't really know how to respond to that."

"Just think about it, sweetie. We'll talk after school."

Adrien mouthed "ok" and went about his business.

"Kat!" Marinette exclaimed. "Why did you do that?!"

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down. It'll be alright. He just needs to think about it—"

"He's going to think I'm pathetic! And that I like him!"

"You do like him," Kat pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but why would I tell him that?"

"How else is he supposed to find out? By reading all those 'subtle' signs? Mari, if there's one thing that guys are, it's oblivious. They won't know what you want or what you think unless you tell them."

"Not all guys are like that."

"No, but most teenage boys are. Adrien is sweet, but he's been homeschooled since he was little so he's not reading the cues like girls do. Remember when you went for ice cream with your friends and the guy was like, 'ah, peach like his lips, green for his eyes,' and Ivan was like, 'huh, I wonder who that could be?' I'm serious when I say guys are oblivious."

"Adrien is gonna think I'm a loser."

"Honey, the only way you could ever be a loser is if you didn't do anything. Right now, save the world, get good grades, and have a social life. You can do this."

"I hope you're right."

Hey big shout out to all you peoples that are reading Miraculous Kat! It makes me so happy when one of you follows me or my story, or favorites it. I like writing something that others like, and I'm glad you guys like it.


	23. Part 23: Kat Joins Adrien in Fencing

**Hey guys, sorry for the absolutely horrible delay. It's my senior year of high school, and I've had a lot of stuff to do. I'll also be moving out to go to college soon, so there's a lot of stress coming up. I'll try to do better though.**

——Monday After School——

"So, Cinnabon, whatcha wanna do today?"

"I have to practice Chinese, then I have fencing, then piano, then I have a photo shoot at 6. There's not exactly a lot of time to do anything."

Kat sighed. Then her expression brightened.

"Hey, maybe I can practice with you. I don't know any Chinese, but maybe it'll be like with Emily because I don't know German either, but I was able to understand her. I've already been practicing fencing with you. And I'm okay at...actually I suck at piano. I never got past a beginner level, but I can just sit and listen. And maybe I can help with your photo shoot. I'll have to be done by 7 though. Nathaniel needs help with the math homework and I need him to draw some stuff for me to color during class. I'm running out of room." Kat held out her left arm, which was covered in sketches from a pen. Adrien rolled his eyes, smiling.

"You and Nathaniel need to stop drawing on each other's arms. You're going to be more ink than person pretty soon."

"Nah. I don't really care. Besides, we use it to help each other. He has to focus on his work for as long as it takes for me to doodle something, then we switch."

"So that's why you have so much pen all over you."

"Yeah."

Kat looked out the window to watch a bird fly pass. Adrien watched her. He could practically see the gears turning in her head.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Nothing," she replied, glancing at Adrien's bodyguard, who was driving. Adrien gave her an "oh" look and waited for when they got out. They were about to talk, but Nathalie hurried Adrien to do his Chinese lesson. Kat doodled on her ankle, occasionally answering questions in Chinese, which almost surprised her, but not quite.

What surprised all of them was that Mr. Agreste joined them. Katy blinked at the older man. He met her eyes briefly, then refocused on his tablet.

A few minutes passed. Kat continued to doodle on her ankle, occasionally glancing up at Mr. Agreste. Mr. Agreste noticed.

"Kat, why don't you join Adrien in learning Chinese?" Mr. Agreste asked.

"I think I've got it covered," Kat replied in perfect Chinese while finishing a doodle of a ladybug on a flower. Mr. Agreste raised an eyebrow.

Just then, a timer went off. The two teens excused themselves and were driven to fencing practice by Adrien's bodyguard.

———At the School———

After they had changed into practice clothes, Adrien's fencing teacher (D'Argencourt) had all the fencers gather into a group, presumably to embarrass Kat. She had been boasting earlier that she was a quick study.

"Let us see if zee oh so wonderful Kat can fence as well as she says. En guard!"

D'Argencourt leapt into ready position. Kat followed suit.

This is usually the point where the author would describe the fight/duel. I, however, am not going to because use I've no idea the terminology or what actually happens, outside of that one episode. Needless to say, the duel was fantastic, Kat won, but only barely. And if there are technicalities, then she won on one of those. (I know this is lazy writing, sorry.)

D'Argencourt stared at Kat in surprise, offense, and pride.

"A student has beaten me!" He despaired. Kat thought quickly for something to say. She didn't want to cause an akuma, after all.

"Uh, um, you mean nearly as good as you…"

"What?"

"I only beat you because...your...foot...slipped?" Kat forced as much confidence into her voice as she could.

"Erm, yes," D'Argencourt said uncertainly, "zere was...an overwaxed bit of ze floor."

Everyone knew it was a cover up, but D'Argencourt was secretly grateful to Kat for trying to maintain his reputation.

"You did well for one so inexperienced. Now, zen, let us get back to training. Miss Mirkwood, you may practice with anyone you wish."

Kat beamed at the praise and chose Adrien as her partner.

"That was nice of you," Adrien said as they got into position.

"Aw, that was nothing. I'm not entirely convinced the floor wasn't overwaxed."

"Still," laughed Adrien, "I'm glad you tried to be nice, even though he didn't want to be nice to you."

"Yeah, you men and your pride are fragile things, eh?"

"Maybe his, not mine," Adrien smiled.

"You sure about that bunny bun?" Kat countered.

"No, but I'm pretty sure you're more prideful than me."

"You're not wrong," Kat said, lunging at him.

"Oh, Kat?"

"Yeah?"

"What was it you wanted earlier?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about you-know-what."

"My father?"

"No, the other thing."

"Ooohhh. What about it?"

"I think you two could seriously be benefited by telling each other who you are."

"Kat!" Adrien's exclamation drew the attention of a few other fencers. He waited for their eyes to avert before continuing, "You know I can't do that."

"Oh, come on! You two are made for each other!"

"Well, I hope so, but I can't just do that. We can't just…" Adrien sighed. "Look, Kat, I wish I could know who she is, but it could ruin us."

"Ruin you how? Who knows, maybe you could cover for each other. And maybe you'd like each other in real life instead of...well, you know."

"I can't, Kat—"

Adrien was interrupted by a resounding boom. The ground shook. Kat shared a look with Adrien. They knew right off that it was an akuma.

What at first glance seemed to be a spider landed heavily in the center of the group. It straightened up to show the top half of a girl. Spidery black surrounded the blue skin of her face.

"I am Angerachnid!" She proclaimed. "Where is Basil? Where is he?"

 **I hope you all liked this part! I'll try to hurry with the next one, sorry I left you with a cliffhanger. Have a great day!**


	24. Part 24: I Wish

**Part 24: I Wish...**

Kat grabbed Adrien by the arm and ran. She changed into her suit while Adrien transformed. She was still changing when he darted toward the door. He paused.

"Go!" Yelled Kat, smearing paint over her eyes. "Go, go, go!"

He hesitantly took a step out the door, only to have Nathaniel barrel into him.

"Uh, you're going to have to wait," Chat Noir said. Nathaniel stuttered out a reply.

"I-I already know. I'm going to keep everyone else out."

"Already know what?"

"Oh my gosh-ness, Chat, let him in! And go! Ladybug'll need your help, now go!"

Chat started in surprise. Kat scowled at the look on his face.

"I'll explain later!"

The answer satisfied Chat, so he ran out.

"Chat, over here!" Ladybug yelled. They began the fight, Panther coming in a few minutes later.

While they fought, Panther kept talking to Chat between his smart aleck quips.

"All I'm saying is that you'd both benefit."

"I don't think now is the time, Panther."

"Okay, but—"

"Not now, Panther!"

Panther sighed, rolled her eyes, and charged Angerachnid. Ladybug jumped in not two minutes later. After a glorious fight, the heroes helped Angerachnid (a girl named Suzan) and her boyfriend Basil (one of the fencers) fix their problem. Panther offered some great advice to the couple.

After that, Panther put her normal clothes back on top of her suit (a white skirt and jacket today) and told Nathaniel to meet her at 'their' park in an hour. She wanted to deal with everything right that second, but she decided it would be better to let Chat's miraculous recharge before doing anything.

——At the Park——

Nathaniel sat in an old swing, anxiously awaiting the two heroes. This park was a secluded one; it was abandoned, really, and you'd have to fight your way through trees to get to it, which made it the perfect meeting place.

The swing creaked. Kat and Chat dropped in via Chat's staff. Kat hopped down and Chat retracted the staff to its normal length.

"Hello my little tomato."

"Hello my little blueberry. Hi, Chat Noir."

Chat gave Kat a strange look. "Blueberry?"

"In honor of the pajamas I came with, seeing as both the shirt and pants were blue."

"Hm. Fitting."

The three stood awkwardly for a moment. (People do a lot of awkward silences in this fic. I should learn some new words or something.) Finally, Chat could bear it no longer.

"Can we get to the explanations now?"

"Yeah, we should probably do that," Kat replied. She and Nathaniel explained the entire experience.

"Okaaay. So basically what you're saying is: Nathaniel is now in on your secret."

"That's about it."

"Well, as long as he keeps your secret, I have no problem with him. I'll try to keep it from Ladybug, but if she asks me, I'm gonna tell her."

"Oh, go ahead." Kat lifted her hand in a gesture of approval. "I'm planning on doing that anyway. I don't know when, but I will."

"I love how open you are with everyone," Nathaniel said admiringly. Kat giggled, booped his nose, and turned back to Chat. Chat smiled. The two were so sweet, it was hard to remember they were from different worlds.

——Later, at Marinette's House——

"Hey Nathaniel, can I paint your nails?" Kat sat cross legged on the floor of Marinette's room. Nathaniel sat drawing next to her.

"Um, I don't know," he said.

"Please? I'll even do Ladybug colors! Ooh, and I can make a yo-yo on your thumb, and I can do Chat Noir colors on your other hand, and—"

"Okay, okay, you can do them!"

"Yay!" Kat giggled with glee. Marinette smiled, her eyes glancing towards the pictures of Adrien on her walls. She sighed. If only Adrien would see her as more than a friend. Mari opened her sketchbook and began to design what she thought Kat's future wedding dress would look like. And then what her future wedding dress might look like.

An hour later, Nathaniel had to leave.

"Bye bye my sweet guy!"

"Bye bye pumpkin pie."

Kat closed the door. Marinette looked up from her book.

"You two are so sweet together, Kat. I wish…" Mari didn't finish, leaving the sentence hanging in the air. She looked longingly at the pictures on her wall. Kat put an arm around her friend.

"I know. And one day, we'll figure out how to get you it."

Mari smiled, sighed, and went back to drawing.

——That Night——

Kat crept up onto the roof, via the window. It was a dangerous way to go up, but she enjoyed the feeling of climbing. And it didn't wake up Mari.

She sat on the railing, looking out over Paris's dull glow.

"I wish…" she whispered. Her eyes found the stars. "I wish I could make them happy. I wish I could tell them who the other was without completely messing up their lives. I wish I could make them happy."

She sighed and looked down again. That was a wish of any fangirl. A soft noise alerted her to Chat Noir, who landed on the railing next to her.

"Hey Kitty Kat."

"Hey bunny bun. You should be in bed."

"You should too."

They looked out at Paris together. Chat shifted his attention away from Paris and onto Kat.

"Hey Kat?"

"Yeah hon?"

"Do you miss your family? Your world?"

Kat laughed mirthlessly and replied, "Of course I do. Daddy especially. My brothers…even though they used to get on my nerves, I do miss them too.

"If you had the choice, would you go back home with them, or stay here here with us?"

"I don't know," Kat admitted. "Sometimes I feel like I'll die without home, but then I'll live in the moment and be so happy here. I don't think I could choose, not really. Besides, maybe I'm supposed to be here. Maybe I'm meant to do something. What about you? If you had the chance to go to another universe to be with your mom, would you go, or stay here?"

"I don't know, either." Chat turned his gaze back to the view. Kat put her arm around him and there they sat for the next few hours before the sun came up.

 **Hey guys, thanks so much for reading! I hoped you liked this chapter. It'll probably be a little more exciting in the next one (or two).**


	25. Part 25: I Will

Part 25: I Will.

——Monday——

Frustration welled inside Kat's heart. Mr. Agreste was being especially annoying that day. He wouldn't even let her bring Adrien a smoothie for after his photo shoot.

"He's simply too busy today, Miss Kat." Mr. Agreste sat behind his desk, signing papers.

Kat scowled. "And what about you? What are you doing today that's so important?"

Mr. Agreste returned her scowl. In his opinion, Kat had been fairly unreasonable for the entire day (and she really had). He couldn't figure out why.

"I need to design six more outfits by Friday," he said.

Kat growled and stalked out of the room. Mr. Agreste smiled.

"Perfect," he muttered, already making his way to his butterfly lair. He transformed into Hawkmoth and waited for the best time to akumatize Kat. A small feeling of hesitation made him pause, but he waved it away.

——About Two Hours Later——

During her time in the Miraculous world, Marinette had taught Kat to knit and crochet. Kat sat in her room in the Agreste mansion, violently crocheting a scarf. If she could just find visual proof of the similarities between Adrien and Chat Noir, maybe she could convince Marinette that they were one and the same. And then maybe, just maybe, she would agree to reveal her identity to Adrien.

She was so caught up in what she was doing that she didn't hear the quiet flip flap of the akuma's wings. She gasped as it was almost to the scarf and attempted to put up a mental block around the heroes' identities before it landed. She would have run, but string was tangled between her legs, and she knew she wouldn't be able to get away. (Cue Hawkmoth vision.)

"Hello, Kat. I am Hawkmoth. I am giving you the power to pull the strings. In return, you will give me Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses."

Hawkmoth's voice was in her head, but she fought, or at least tried to.

"I know your voice, Hawkmoth," she hissed through clenched teeth.

Back in his lair, Hawkmoth shivered. He could feel how strong this girl was.

"I assure you, you don't know me," he replied.

"Yes I do." Kat took a deep breath and uttered one more word. "Agreste."

"Do as I say! You will have the power to orchestrate your friends' romance! You can control Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

"No! No! I won't do it!"

The akuma failed. It left her yarn and returned to Hawkmoth. He frowned, and then an idea sprouted.

——Early the Next Morning——

6:00. Kat slept fitfully. Having Hawkmoth in her head had left a mark. Her yarn and scarf were nestled against her. The akuma landed on the half finished scarf once again. In her sleep, Hawkmoth persuaded her.

"You resisted me earlier." His words sunk into her dreams. "Will you see reason now?"

"No," Kat whimpered, eyes still closed. "No."

"Come now, you want them to be happy, don't you?"

"Yes, Hawkmoth."

Hawkmoth breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't believe how much of a fighter she was. Actually, he could. Her emotions over a someone else's problems were strong, and what Hawkmoth actually couldn't believe was that her emotions hadn't made her upset enough for an akuma until then.

Kat's outfit hadn't changed when the akuma took over. She merely put away her crocheting and made her way to Marinette's.

——At the Bakery——

"Tom, could you…" Mrs. Dupain-Cheng trailed off. Marionetta stood in the doorway with a stormy look in her eyes, and a smile plastered on her face.

"Hello, Kat."

"Hello, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng. Where's Marinette?"

"Upstairs," she answered, brows furrowed. Something was wrong, but she didn't know what. Marionetta nodded and took the stair two at a time. Marinette looked up curiously when she entered the room.

"Hi, Kat. I thought you were with Adrien today."

Marionetta wordlessly cast out her hand and a nearly invisible string seized Mari.

"Don't speak," she commanded. "And hold still."

Mari's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Marionetta smiled.

"Isn't this fun? Your name is Marinette, and now I am your marionette! Heeheehee, this was just meant to be! Now follow me," she added, waving her hands like a puppet master, manipulating Mari's expression into a normal one. Marionetta rushed downstairs, pulling Marinette with her.

"We'll be back, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng," Marionetta called behind her as they left.

Marinette would have made a worried face if she could. How was she supposed to transform if she couldn't speak?

"Now to get Adrien," Marionetta muttered, the fake smile still plastered on her features.

——At Adrien's Photo Shoot——

Adrien yawned. He'd stayed up all night patrolling again. The photographer groaned.

"At least try to look awake!" He complained. "We only have a couple of hours until it's no longer early morning!"

"Sorry." Adrien rubbed his eyes. Not three seconds later, he rubbed them again. Kat had just barged in with a giant smile on her face, tugging Marinette behind her. Adrien squinted at the two girls. There was something off about them.

"Kat, Marinette, are you okay?"

Marionetta giggled and grabbed his arm, attaching a string as she did. To the utter dismay of the camera team, she raced off, trailing the two behind her. The cameraman was not happy.

"You bring Adrien back!" He yelled. Marionetta cackled in response.

"What's happeniiiinnng?" Adrien looked to Marinette for answers. She still couldn't talk, so she tried to shrug. It didn't work.

With inhuman strength, Marionetta launched the three of them to the roofs of Paris. Adrien made a little 'ah' sound.

"She's akumatized!" He exclaimed.

 **Hope you liked this! Also- you guys have no freaking idea how amazing the next part will be (wink wink).**


	26. Part 26: Spots On and Claws Out

Part 26: Spots On and Claws Out

Mari nodded soundlessly. Marionetta took them all the way across Paris, back to a little park she and Nathaniel frequented. It was small, and out of the way. A small metal table surrounded by four chairs sat directly ahead of them, some swings off to the right. Marionetta giggled with glee.

"Oh, this...this is just perfect! Oh, this'll be so romantic! And just look at that sunrise!"

Marinette nervously chuckled, but no sound came out. Adrien exchanged a worried glance with Marinette.

"Kat! This isn't how you would want me to go on my first date, is it? Let me decide, please!"

Hawkmoth interrupted.

"Marionetta, don't let him fool you. They are meant for each other. Make them fall in love before Ladybug and Chat Noir get here or it'll never happen!"

Marionetta smiled at Adrien. Deep down, she knew that if she just waited long enough… She sat down cross legged in the grass, pulled out the scarf, and began crocheting again. Hawkmoth blinked with incomprehension.

"What...what are you doing?"

"Just wait, Hawkmoth." Marionetta took away the string forcing Marinette to stay quiet. "Patience is a virtue."

Meanwhile, Marinette was blushing while trying to figure a way out of this. Adrien was doing the same, minus the blushing.

"Marinette, I am so sorry about this," Adrien said.

"Oh, don't be," Marinette replied nervously.

"I'm not sure where all this came from."

"Don't worry about it."

They squirmed in their seats until Marionetta tightened the strings.

And there they sat, seconds dragging into minutes, minutes to hours. Even Hawkmoth began to grow impatient.

"What are you waiting for?" He angrily asked.

"Patience," Marionetta said softly. Her stomach growled. She addressed Adrien and Marinette. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere, Marinette, you either, Adrien."

She left to get food from a nearby bakery. While she was gone, the two heroes brainstormed.

"Maybe we should yell for help," Mari suggested.

"It's no use," Adrien responded, "she told me about this park. She and Nathaniel are the only ones that come here. Just look at how rusted this table is."

Marinette groaned. If they couldn't get out of this soon...she didn't know what would happen. She began to think about what Marionetta said before she left. Mari wondered aloud.

"You know, Kat specifically said our names…"

"And?"

Dread built in Mari's stomach. A way out was beginning to emerge, and she didn't like what it was.

Even beneath the akumatization, Kat was trying to help. She had left a back door of sorts, to let them cheat their way out, to protect them.

"Adrien?"

"What is it, Marinette?"

"I don't want to do this, but it might be the only way. Kat's fighting the akuma, and left us alone for a reason. I'm sorry. This might put you in danger. I can't think of anything else."

Adrien has come to a completely different conclusion than Mari had.

"Yeah, we have to fall in love with each other."

Marinette shook her head.

"That won't work. You love me as a friend, and nothing more. She wants us to be in love with each other. Really and truly in love."

"We'll pretend."

"Adrien, do you really think we could fool her? She knows us, probably better than we know ourselves." Marinette sighed.

"Then what should we do?"

"I don't want to do this but…" Mari closed her eyes and put her head down. "Tikki, spots on."

Adrien's eyes widened. Sweet, caring, clumsy Marinette, his friend, his good friend, transformed into Ladybug right before his eyes. She stretched out, able to move now that she was Ladybug and not Marinette.

"Marinette, you're...Ladybug?"

"I know, I'm not much, but this is how I make a difference in people's lives. The Ladybug miraculous was given to me, and I use it to fight evil. I'm so sorry, but this might put you in danger."

To her surprise, Adrien smiled.

"Don't worry, my lady, I'll never tell your secret," he said softly.

"Did you just call me 'my lady'?" Ladybug asked just as softly.

"Plagg, claws out," Adrien said. And then he was Chat Noir. Ladybug's eyes widened.

"Chat? You...you're…" Ladybug covered her mouth. And smiled. Adrien, her perfect, beautiful, amazing, kind, Adrien, was also her amazing pun making partner. And he loved her. She dropped her hand, and took his instead. "I-I don't know what to say."

Chat Noir was frozen on the spot. _She_ _was_ _holding_ _his_ _hand_. His mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.

"Chaton." Ladybug smiled kindly, loving eyes gazing into his. And suddenly all the words came out at once.

"I had no idea, if I would have had any idea I would have...I know I'm just a silly model and I know I'm not much of a hero in real life but—"

"Shh...this is real life, Adrien." Ladybug couldn't believe that she wasn't stuttering. "And I know who you are, both sides of you now. And I love them both."

 _Did she really just say that?_ The words slipped out before she could stop them. Surprise at her own words faded to happiness as she realized that she truly meant what she had said.

"Now, let's go free Kat," she said. A look of surety and determination returned to Chat's face. This was the Chat she knew.

Marionetta chose that moment to return and stayed hidden for a moment. She silently licked the crumbs off her fingers and took out her crocheting. Hawkmoth worriedly spoke.

"What are you doing? Get their Miraculouses!"

"I don't think I will." Marionetta stepped out into the park. "Ladybug!"

The heroes assumed fighting poses.

"No, no. Here." Marionetta ripped the scarf in half, much to Hawkmoth's chagrin. Ladybug hurriedly de-evilised the akuma. She turned to the now normal Kat, who somehow remembered everything (hint hint: she's from another dimension)

"So I assume you know who the other is now?"

Ladybug and Chat Noir exchanged a smile.

"Yes, we do."

 **Let me know what you think about this part! I really enjoyed writing it, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it! (BTW I totally wrote parts 24, 25, and 26 in a three day period. Hope it makes up for the months of inactivity!)**


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